WITCH: The Shunned One
by XV-Dragon
Summary: A half elf orphan trying to survive in world that does not accept her when is suddenly fate throws her into a situation where she may get what she always wanted: friends, family and a home. But she must first defeat her past before she begin her new life.
1. Lesson With Dungeon Master

NOTE: This will most likely become a three part series so if character does get used it most likely will be in one of the others

Before I go any further I would like to say I do not own W.I.T.C.H. or D&D if I did I would swimming in money from D&D book sales or getting season 3 of W.I.T.C.H. to at drawing board instead of the 'we are still thinking about it' line that I have been reading on some message boards.

000

In the divine realm of the celestial beings an old man with long white hair in and dressed in red robe with gold trim, waited for the divine blooded children of this realm to gather around a large viewing pool in the middle of them room.

This person was the one know as the Dungeon Master, a being of great power so strong, even the gods would run in fear if they angered him. Some have even said, he is fate itself in physical form, since it was the only known force that could surpass those who controlled all worlds in existence.

But the origins of the Dungeon Master were far from these young beings of the celestial race though, they where here to learn of the mortal world from this powerful man. It made sense, since they would one day serve the good gods like their parents did once they have grown old enough.

"Listen well young ones" said Dungeon Master to help them settle down now that they were all sat down. "Today I'll tell you of the Kingdom Meridian of the world of Metamoor, A place where many mortal of several races live and grow much like you do but like many mortal realms it is not as peaceful your home is."

Then with a wave of his hand, he made an image appear in the viewing pool. The image that appeared was and map like one that showed an ocean to the North and West of it, while to the East was a mountain range cut this land off from all else in that direction and to the

South was a large forest that took a third of the land, that strangely had giant a wall cutting it off from rest of kingdom.

"We will start our lesson in the Enchanted Forest of the Elves located in the southern part on the map" the Dungeon Master said and the image changed to show two of Elvin race, one being male and the second female. Both had long pointed ears on the side their heads and were slender in build as most elves were, though the male was a bit bigger in build compared to the female.

"The Elvin race is one of the oldest races there is in the world Metamoor as well the one with the longest life span of all races of this world, because once they reach their 25th to 30th year of life, they stop aging completely" and the viewing pool showed an image of an elf going from baby elf grow into an adult over the course of 30 seconds.

"Because of this they never die from old age and stay in rather young bodies that can better fight illness, while also combining with the power divine magic to heal them when they do get sick or hurt, they often live for hundreds or thousands of years" the Dungeon master said, getting nods of understanding from the young ones since they age much the same way.

"Now the elves are known for many things one being their remarkable agility and dexterity that is more than mere physical ability. It's also how their minds can control it with level of instinct no one can learn, they must be born with it," and with that being said, the viewing pool showed an elf grab a large flat shield and rode it down a long flight of stairs like it was nothing…while shoot enemies with unbeatable accuracy!

This had the young celestials gasp in shock, which caused the Dungeon Master to chuckle "They as you can see Elves are great archers. But this is not just because of their dexterity, but also from their excellent eye sight. Their fighting skills are not limited to only the bow though, they also train in the use of other weapons as well," And once again, the scene changed, this time to one with elves in duals with swords.

"They also learn how wield sword as skillfully as the wield a bow as form of self defense against the creatures of their forest home, but these skills have been close to being used against their neighbors, the humans, many times in the past," And once again powerful being made the vision in the pool change, but this time a race that looked much the Dungeon Master appeared.

"Humans only live about 80 to 100 hundred years at best, even with power of healing magic and are a race that constantly changes and grows because of it," new images show humans gathering food from fields and hunting in forests, another showing large amounts fish being pull out the ocean in massive nest and onto boats, and yet another show large amounts of forests being cut down along with miners digging deep into the earth to get hidden metals and gems hidden within.

"Humans lack the elves connection to nature and just see the world's resources as something that will never run out. Many mostly want these recourses to keep their families fed and happy, while others want them as a means fill their pocket with money. But the elves see it as wasteful and argue humans are destroying the land and will only use up everything in their own lands, then go after what is in Elvin lands" the scene changes to ones of the two races arguing, some even fighting in small but bloody battles.

Some children looked ill at the sight other look appalled but the Dungeon Master spoke before anyone could interrupt him.

"But the not all humans see only their own side of the story. One of these people is the very Queen that rules over the humans," and the image changed to show a woman with light blue eyes and long blonde hair, in royal cloths. She was writing her name on a document of some kind with elves on one side of her and humans on the other.

The elves had friendly but triumphant smirks on their faces, while the humans had scowls. Judging from their clothing, the other humans were most likely nobles and were not as happy as their Queen or the elves where about what was going on.

"Queen Sade is a very wise ruler, who knows how to think ahead of time, not just what will happen with in her life time. She knows that if she set things up to follows the right path now while things are still alright then many problems can avoided as long as these rules are followed…but change, even for humans, does not always come easy for them," the Dungeon Master stated, before causing a new race to appear in the pool.

This new race had pointed ear like the elves, but not as long and duller at the tip. They also had builds more like a human rather than then slim frame of an elf.

"These are members of the race created by the rare union of humans and elves, they are half-elves," The Dungeon Master explained, and then showed a scene where a half-elf was running from a mob of humans.

"Because of the Queen placing limitations on how much the nobles and the heads of the guilds in charge of gathering resources, as well putting even stricter limitations on the capture and/or killing rare and magical creatures that many nobles enjoy hunting to the point where it is almost completely forbidden, has made many of these men look for ways to take their anger out on this race ," the Dungeon Master explained as the image showed the mob catch the half elf and start to beat the poor being.

"Why is this allowed?" one child growled with a lot of heartfelt agreement from the others making the powerful being give the children a sad smile.

"The Queen does not permit it in the least; in fact she has made rather…harsh examples of those she has proven guilty of the crime of mistreating those of the Half-Elf race. But when many high ranking officials cover up the crimes before any honest people can report it or use threats to silence them, it is why many half-elves try to make to the elves forest but there is one obstacle in their way," And the scene changed once again.

This time it showed a clearer version the massive wall along the edge of the enchanted forest the Elves lived in and seeing how humans were the patrolling the ramparts, it seemed they were the ones who built it.

"Several human generations ago, this wall was built as a way to keep the peace between humans and Elves, by making sure only those with special permission could enter the elves' forest. But now it also keeps the Half-Elf race being able to make it to a better home."

The next vision showed several different Half-Elves trying to talking the guards into letting them pass, while others making more daring attempts such as the use of spell to get over or through the wall. One scene showed one making jump over the wall the used a magic item to save himself from getting hurt or killed from the fall then make his way into the forest.

"Though have been times one of them could make it through without having to go to extreme measures, the guards tend to make a hard as possible, not wanting lose what they see as means venting their unjust anger. But I think it's time moved something a little less upsetting," The Dungeon Master suggested seeing how angry the children were getting.

"The next thing I'll teacher is what mortal call classes…no not the kind we are having," The old man said, getting a small amount of laughter from the children, which caused the aura of anger lessen a bit.

"Classes are kind like profession that focuses on certain sets of skills and abilities to achieve a certain objective. Often people from different classes joined together to form groups and combine their abilities making it possible to achieve greater results, though sometimes people will do something called multi-class with one other class or more to grant them flexibility. Though it is rare for some two have more the two classes," the Dungeon Master explained, but a child then spoke out.

"Why is that?" she asked getting the Dungeon Master to look over to her.

"An excellent question though next raise your hand," This got the young girl to blush and small chuckle from the other children, before the Dungeon Master continued.

"Studying more than one class means that a person will most likely never be able to gain some of the more advanced abilities of ether classes, so limiting it to only two others minimizes loss unless the person has a very rare and special trait." These words got the young celestials attention and eagerly waited for more explanation from the powerful being.

"You see, like each of you has something your good at, these special people have a talent for making more than one class grow at a rate almost as fast as someone who focuses on a single class. A person with this special trait if called a Gifted but these gifted ones need a very long and tough training regiment to fully make this of this powerful ability." He explained.

"Now I'll tell you all about a few of the classes starting with Bards. They wield arcane magic through songs and music, allowing them not only to cast spell but also inspire their allies or weaken the will of their enemies and if that fails, they have some skill in swordsmanship to rely on but not as good as other classes more focused on combat," Dungeon Master explained and images of members said class appeared in the pool.

"The next class I'll explain is will the Cleric. They are often followers of a certain god or belief in a certain cause and the best at art of healing magic by wielding divine power. But they are also good at dealing damage to undead, demons, devils, and to who strongly follows the path of evil," The images in pool now showed clerics in battle, casting spell of heal or halting the advance of undead being divine might.

The children knew a little about clerics, since being divine beings themselves (though of lesser nature then the gods of course) but they originally though they were preacher of the gods, not warriors of them, so this a bit enlightening, but then Dungeon Master spoke again

"Now the next class is Druid. Like Clerics, the Druids wield divine magic but they wield the power of nature instead of those of a god. Their healing power are second best compared to Clerics, but have greater firepower in battle, using the elements of nature and summoning its creatures to strike down foes. They also posses an animal companion, a creature that grows in strength and ability as the Druids powers grow," Unlike before, the children were not so knowledgeable about this form of divine casting.

With that images of robed mortals appear with large beasts of all kinds at their side, to give the children another visual example of the class. But then vision changed to ones in armor and carrying weapons off all sorts.

"Now for the Fighter class, they are warriors plain and simple and are able wield all sorts of weapons in battle, though they tend to focus on ether one or two weapons their whole life and even other classes that use long or close range weapons tend to have trouble matching these skill combatants."

"Now for another warrior class, called Ranger," The Dungeon Master said, causing images to change to lone warrior in a forest looking like it was tracking something a large wolf at its side.

"They are warriors of nature who can be both skilled tracks and fight almost on par with that of the fighter, but they also summon nature's power for magic much like the druids but have less spells to call on. Though these few spell tend increase their abilities in battle and also like druids, they gain animal companions."

"Next one is a class is one with a less focus on direct combat, the Rouge," And images of mortals hiding in the shadows or behind objects or they were sneaking around, they either seemed to be spying, stealing an unknown item, or in some cases launching a surprise attack against enemies.

"They are skilled spies, thieves, and assassins and using their speed and reflexes to dodge even the most powerful attack spells. Though this may make them seem evil, they are not all so and these tactics can be used to save their friends and allies," Dungeon Master explained, as he was seeing how the children did not seem to agree with the Rouge's methods.

"Well let's move on to the Wizard class," And then images of men and women pouring over tomes arcane writing appeared in the pool.

"They study magical theory and knowledge of all things linked to the arcane arts; they do this to learn to control the magic in the world around them. They also have their own version of druids and rangers animal companion, called a familiar. But these creatures are rarely used in battle because while they grow smarter over time, they don't get more powerful like companion do."

"Now the next class is bit different, yet is the same as the Wizard, called Sorcerer. This is a person born with magic flowing through their veins and learns trough hands on work, rather than study. This also gives a larger reserve of magic, allowing them cast spells longer then the wizard. They also gain a familiar like their Wizard counter parts," The Dungeon Master explained, but his lecture on the arcane class types was not finished yet.

"Now another arcane class is one called a Warmage, a person who studies magic in an academy made solely for creating these powerful militant casters. The training they must go through is the most difficult of any other class with exception the gifted," This was a shock to the young celestials, thinking how anyone would go through all this for just single class, but while they thought this Dungeon Master continued.

"These casters are often called the heavy artillery of the Meridian, military trained to use a limited but powerful selection of combat spell. They often have the respect officers of higher rank because of the dedication Warmages show to the kingdom, and have been known to save day when a group of them appears to send a barrage of offensive magic into entire groups of enemies," This answers the children's unasked question, knowing loyalty and perhaps little desire for the respect of others, might give one the desire to go through such grueling training.

"Now for the final class I'll be telling you about, is one that is greatly misunderstood, the Warlock," This made several children get a slightly dark look on their faces, knowing a bit about this class from their parents, much like they knew a little about clerics.

"It seems I need to fill some gaps of information," Dungeon Master said as he saw this. Of course this was why offered to hold these lectures every once and while and why parent sent them. The parents knew the powerful being often looked at thing from a more objective view, allowing these young ones to get a more complete picture of how things were.

"Warlocks are those who have access to a power supernatural magic, that unlike Sorcerers or Wizards who use spells as a medium to use their powers, Warlocks control their abilities by strength of their will. With this force of will power, they fire out bolts pure energy called eldritch blasts, they also use what they call invocations which are used to alter the eldritch blast or have them function much like spells would, to achieve a wide range of effects," So far this was not much different from what the children knew already.

"The source of warlock power is falsely believed to only be evil in origin, this is due to many of the first of those who gained these powers were those who forged pacts with demons and devils out of greed and lust for power," Once again the young ones this as was the reason for dark expressions.

"Though the truth is that there are many who gain these powers from other forces such as the more magical creatures of nature, such as the fey or rarely from divine forces much like yourselves, but the most common way one becomes a warlock is by being blood related to another warlock," Only a few of the young ones knew this little piece of information, greatly altering the bulk of the classes' current view on the topic.

"But no matter how they gained their powers, most people, especially the ignorant, fear and hate them are very often chased away or killed if they are one of the weaker ones. But the more powerful ones tend to fight back in self defense, though this only tends to fan the flames of hatred for them," The idea that some warlocks may not be evil or gone evil because anger or mistreatment, it seemed like it was much like what the Half-Elves went through but instead of their race it was the unknown source of their powers.

"Now, I think it's time for you all to head home. I'll let your parents know when the next lecture is," instructed Dungeon Master and with that, the young celestials got up and headed out, little stiff after such a long lesson.

Once they were gone, Dungeon Master turned back to the viewing pool showing the Half-Elf from earlier, making sure that one vision was one from a future event, instead of the past, like the other images.

"Let's even the odds a bit," He said to himself as saw the chase was just starting.

With only the smallest amount of his power he put of suggestion for the half-elf run into an inn, instead running down the street. The young thing tripped just after entering the room, but that was all that was needed.

As it started to crawl across the room, the mob entered the inn and one was about to grab the young one, when knife struck the hand, digging deep into it. A lightning bolt then followed, sending man flying across the room.

The mob looked over to what they guessed was a ranger, a druid, wizard, and rouge. The first three being human, but the rouge was a much older Half-Elf and holding knife much like the one that had been thrown and the wizard's hand was pointing in the direction the wounded man. "There a problem folks?" asked the ranger making it look like he was the leader of the group.

With that Dungeon Master made the image fade away knowing things would be all right and said to himself "Soon young one your story shall begin"

000

Few…done at last well if you want to see the main character classes and levels check my profile


	2. Life of the Shunned One

Disclaimer: Read the Reference Chapter for it

Okay for the first chapter of my first story, so please go easy on me.

Especially since I am trying to make chapter have the character shrouded in mystery for moment so please bare with me while I try to build the suspense (even though you all probably see right though it but the best way for me to learn it is to try to do it I guess so here I go)

Also to correct an error for one of Irma's classes its Ranger not Fighter for her first class

000

Chapter 1: Life of the Shunned One

Near the Elvin/Human boarder, the town very plainly called Traders Central was doing business as they normally do for early spring. They were being flooded with fish brought in from the western fishing villages along the coast, as well as meat, furs, wood, stone, raw ore and other such things being brought from the surrounding areas, which would be needed for the new season.

Though not everyone was focused getting what they needed for the season, more like getting what was needed to survive the day.

In the shadows of a nearby bakery was a cloaked figure, the darkness making impossible to tell the gender of unknown person. Judging from the height though, whoever it was about 12 or so years old.

Because of the tattered but dark cloak the young person wore along with the shadows, no one noticed the figure. Even if they did, with the cloak closed up and hood pulled up, the only thing they would see were the person's feet, which were wrapped in strips of cloth instead of having shoes. But if some could see all that, it would defeat the purpose of staying hidden now would it?

The moment the cloaked person was waiting for was close at hand and judging from the smell they were detecting, it was fresh bread for breakfast today, so long as they were not caught. Being caught would lead something that would make the mysteries person wish for death, knowing from past experience how people enjoyed getting their revenge.

The cloaked figure soon hears a tray being placed down of on windowsill and the steps of the baker leaving to do their next task; this signaled the cloaked person to move in and grab the precious food before the baker noticed.

In one bony hand was a gray sack, while the other was darting across the tray, throwing in the large number of bread rolls that lay on it. With expert skill and speed only a Rouge could surpass, the figure did not care that the hot items burned the hand that grabbing them and sack was quickly filled.

The figure then quickly escaped into the back ally paths, hearing an angry yell of in the distance, but it was too far away to much concern for the cloaked one, who kept going full pace to a place where the newly gained meal could be enjoyed.

15 minute later in the less cared for section the trading town; the cloaked person entered a small rundown house, just big enough two people to live in back when it was in good condition. Now though, most the roof was gone, making even the beggars and homeless would not stay in it unless you knew what the cloaked person knew.

In one corner of the falling apart house, the cloaked person slipped through an opening between two large sections of roof that had fallen over the spot leaving gap just big enough for the cloaked one to get through. Once in the sheltered spot, the figure opened a hidden door in the floor and climbed down the ladder that it hidden under the door. The figure then bit onto the sack so free one hand to close the hidden door again, while holding onto the ladder with the other, then climbed down said ladder.

Once at the bottom, the person opened one final door that lead into room hidden well beneath the ruined house above. This was where the mysteries person could finally remove the hood of the cloak that hid their face, which reveal a young girl with short red hair and brown colored eyes. But the most eye attracting feature was the two slightly pointed ears that marked her as a half-elf.

This was the reason she had to wear the cloak and steal food like a common thief, because they never would let her buy anything, even if she had the money for it. But that would not be a problem for much longer if her plan worked.

She removed her cloak to show what she considered clothing, which was a tattered pair of gray pants, which barely covered anything below her knees, and a worn gray tunic that she managed to get in one her searches through people's garbage were she got all of her non stolen items.

She then made her way to a small wood table and placed the sack of bread rolls onto, it next to an old clay jug full of water. She then sat on stool next to the table and enjoyed some of her stolen bounty with the fresh water she got very early that morning.

The rest of the room was rather simple and barren, besides the table and stool there was only a small and crudely made bed off to the side, five feet from a large hole in the earthy wall of the room, all of which along with a few tools had been here when she found the place when trying to find shelter and a safe place to rest for the night.

Though it did give her the rare place that could truly be called a safe haven for her to go to, it more importantly provided with her the chance to do little project that may lead her to a better life. The location of this house was near the south end of the town, which meant all she had to was finish something had been started long before when she found this place; a tunnel to the other side the of city wall and into the territory of the Elves.

It had been started by two men who wanted to smuggle rare and magical creatures through it, without having to risk being stopped by local lord's guards. But when they were caught, along several others who were going to along with plan, they had not been able to finish the project. The good news for her though, the guards never found this place, even though they had the ones who built it.

The reason she knew all this was because of the news about the capture of those men, the rumors of the tunnel and the fact those men had notes left behind for others who were most likely apart of the plan, but were among those caught by guard. This left the red headed half breed to do the rest of work herself, but she had been working two months now and was hoping the end was near.

After finishing her meal, the half elf went over to the large hole and just inside where mining picks and shovels with a strange compasses on each of them.

The compasses were different than the normal kind because they did not point north; they pointed a specific place or this case, an arcane mark.

This was to make sure the tunnel was dug in the right direction or that's what the half elf guessed from what she could read of the notes, since her reading skills were rather limited, even if the notes were written rather simply to most likely avoid confusion for other diggers.

Now the idea digging a tunnel to go some were may seem a bit pointless when there was gate that would much easier to walk through. But the problem was that guards would make sure she most likely crawl away battered and bruised like the last few times she tried to walk through or sneak passed them.

This tunnel would be her best chance avoid this fate and find out if the rumors where true that while the elves did not go out of their way to help Half=Elves, they at least let them live in tree city of the Elvin people for those few Half -Elves who make it into their borders.

Perhaps then she would be finally find a home and people to call her by her name, which was Will, the name she barely remembered having because of being called half breed, monster or freak all the time.

"Well…" she said to herself, as she picked up a shovel made the long walk to end of incomplete tunnel, "Let's see if today will be the day I find out."

000

Okay First chapter done and all I can say is this: I never realized how much work a story was until I tried writing one. So to Mirai No Dinurs, Sokai and any other authors reading this I salute you for all your hard work (Okay that sounded corny but you probably get the idea)


	3. Dormant Powers Awakend & Unleashed

Author Note: Well here is got chapter 2 is and I still don't own W.I.T.C.H. or D&D so no lawsuits please

IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Reference Chapter has been rewritten into story form, so it's now (I hope) a little more entertaining to read compared to the more instruction manual format I had before.

Also I would like to give my thanks for Sniper Fodder who is helping me clean up my writing a bit so now my story should be easier to read (which we are all thankful for lol!)

Okay now that I got that out of the way let's begin the next chapter

000

Chapter 2: Dormant Powers Awakened and Unleashed

It had been three days since the bread roll theft Will had made and she was once again running low on food. But she was making good progress on the tunnel, because the compass point was spinning around in circles. This meant she just needed to start digging upward but there were two problems.

One problem was the fact there was a lot of rocky earth straight above Will's head, which lead to the second problem; Will simply lacked both the height and upper body strength to break through it.

She could make mounds of dirt to get herself up high enough to hit the right spot, but it gave her poor footing at times and since she was only twelve, she did not have the strength that only an adult would have to swing one of the picks hard enough to do much damage to rocky terrain.

'There has got to be some way to break through,' Will thought, as she stopped for the day and headed back to the room on other end of the tunnel to eat what was left of the rolls, then go and get more supplies.

This was not just for her everyday meals, but also for when she finished her tunnel, since she did not know how long it would take to find the elves or their tree top kingdom. Heck, even the veteran rangers had trouble finding their way through enchanted forest of the elves.

Suddenly Will's eyes widened due her sudden realization "Belcoot!" she exclaimed and suddenly started running towards her room. Completely forgetting about getting her after-noon meal of bread rolls and grabbed her cloak was hoping she could make it to where she was going without too much trouble.

The problem with this sudden trip was that required her to use the main roads at times. This was only for a moment each time she used them, but for a half-elf, a moment in the open could be a very bad. Especially when one did most of their first 'food gathering' attempts in those areas.

But if she could get to the one she called Belcoot, all her problems would be solved because with him and his friends, she would be able to finish the tunnel in seconds. Plus as an added bonus, she could ask if they could help her get food the honest way on the way back.

Will quickly climes ladder that lead back up to the ruins of the old house above and exited at the top of the ladder, closing it behind her. She then used her keen eyesight and hearing granted to her by her Elvin blood to make sure no one was nearby. She could not afford to lose her secret place now to carelessness, not when she was so close.

Once Will was sure no one was around, she slipped through the opening of two pieces of fallen roof that hid the entrance to her home. Will then made her way down the side roads to avoid being seen as long as possible. Though some would say knowing almost every side road and back ally route would be impossible in such large town. But when had a teacher like hers, it a piece of cake.

'I just hope they are there. If not then it might be months before I can break through,' Will thought to herself, as she reached the first main road she has to go through.

Will looked out into the street from her hiding place in the shadows and saw it was fairly quiet, but this road was like this normally. It was the ones closer to the center of Trader's Central that where going to be tough.

The red headed half-breed waited for a moment, then headed out into stone path, hoping no decided to make sure if there was a half-elf under the hood of her badly worn cloak. As she crossed it seemed she was in luck as made into the next back ally road.

Her luck also held for several other main street roads, mostly because it was still the busy part of early spring. People were more focused their work at the moment. Now she had only one road to get across to get Inn were the ones she was looking for would be. If they were not working on a job that is, but it was hard to tell with those four.

She noticed a couple of town guards patrolling this road, probably looking out for trouble makers or just for half-elves. To them, her kind was trouble incarnate, so they were guilty unless proven otherwise.

Will would rather not get beaten because few guards felt like a having a little fun and call it their duty, though did feel maybe it was karma for all the food she stole. Even if she had no choice in the matter, stealing was always wrong and she made vow to day try to make up for those thefts if possible one day.

But she was getting ahead of herself. First she needed to finish the tunnel and then worry about making amends. 'And to do that I needed help,' the redhead though, as she watched the two guards turn to talk to man in a stall ten feet away from the ally she needed to go to.

'It's risky, but now is the time,' Will thought, before walking as fast as she could towards the ally, without attracting attention to herself. She was just making into the ally, when a hand roughly grabbed her shoulder and pulled her hood down, while spinning her around to face the two guards.

"Well what do got here? A thief I bet!" said the one who grabbed her said throwing her into the ally wall while the other guard just laughed.

"Ya no half breed scum would be around this part of town otherwise," the other said and grabbed Will by her short red hair and pulled hard, making Will yelp from the pain.

"Hey! No noise from you half breed scum!" the guard ordered and let go of Will's hair just long enough to slap her across the face, sending her tumbling to the ground laying against the wall again.

The guards were laughing at this and the one who grabbed her then started to move towards her to continue the beating, when Will's foot shot up and hit him right between the legs. The guard was too stunned by the surprise attack and staggered backwards, collided with his partner and knocking them both to the ground.

Taking advantage of this, Will shot to her feet and ran at full speed out down the alley, but she heard one of guards get up as she did. 'Probably the one who did not a gender change,' Will though to herself as she ran.

You would think Will would be enjoying the fact gave one of the guards a taste of their own medicine, but she did not.

Will knew it just invited trouble when you fought back. The laws made by the local lord made it a major crime to strike a town guard, punished by a six-month imprisonment and one harsh beating, if you were human that is.

If you were half-elf like Will, you get six months of pure torture that most full grown half-elves have been known to die from. If the less corrupted officials came to question what happened, the death was blamed an escape attempt or some other cover story to hide the murder.

Her only hope was that her friends were in the inns; since they were fairly well know in this town. Even the local lord and his guards tend to back off when this group put their foot down against racial crimes; they were that powerful in both influence and in strength.

As she turned the corner and burst through the door to the inn, making everyone turn to see her and the angry guard run through the room. The guard was too fast and closed in on Will, grabbed her again, but this time with much more force. He then grabbed Will's arm and pulling it behind her back.

With one good twist, there was sudden snapping sound that made Will let out a blood curdling scream of pain.

"That's right you little piece of trash! You better scream because…ack!" the guard started to say, until he was suddenly grabbed by the throat and lifted off the the ground very large and angry looking man.

The man was human with black hair, about was about seven feet tall and had a massive build of pure muscle, but the brown robe he wore showed he was of the Druid Class surprisingly.

"Put him down Grizz we need him alive if we want answers…then you can kill him," called the voice of a hooded man in the clothing, small build and smart mouth attitude of a Rouge; which of course got him a whack in the back of the head from an older woman with a staff, who had walking up behind the two.

"Keep you're smart alike remarks to yourself Roy!" the old woman scolded the Rouge. She had black but slowly going gray hair. Her face, though not badly wrinkled, showed she was getting close to the end of her prime and was dressed in dark blue wizard robes.

"Anyway, Roy is right for a change Grizz. You really should put him down, as we need the fool able to speak clearly and unfortunately it needs to breathe to do so. Besides I believe you have a more pressing task at hand," she said with a more cultured tone then Roy's and was pointing to the injured Will.

With those words, the guard was dropped like a sack of potatoes and the giant of a man walked over to Will. The young half-elf had curled up into a ball on the floor, clutching her broken arm and Druid waited for his wizard companion to get the young girl into position for him to do his work.

All the while Roy was still rubbing his head and yelling out, "Dam it you evil hag! Why do have you do have to hit so hard Zerase!" This of course, got him hit by an invisible force that sent him fly across the room by said wizard.

"He never learns does he?" the deep voice of Grizz asked Zerase, who finally had Will's head on her lap, while the Druid sent a blue glowing light into the arm, slowly healing the wound.

Zerase did not answer the druid, but had a smirk on her face, which quickly softened into concerned smile when Will let out a whimper of pain, since Grizz doing the job slowly to insure broken bones were healed correctly.

While they were doing this, the guard had finally recovered from his near death experience from the want to be titan. He knew once they were done with half-breed, they would want to talk to him and he got the feeling they were going to use more than words when they did.

So the guard did the one and only thing he could do, run! But before the scared man could get half way to the door, he was closed lined by a man who was clearly a ranger by his attire, which was forest green pants and tunic along with brown cloak and a worn but usable pair a leather boots.

His facial features also gave a sign to his class, since his dark brown hair was as messy as the Druid's, but oddly enough unlike the Druid who was clean shaven, the ranger had a rather shaggy beard on his face.

As the guard tried to get up again, one of the ranger's boots was quickly placed on the guard's chest to keep the guard pinned to the ground. "You're not going any were just yet," The Ranger stated in cold tone, making it clear to the guard that if he tried to run again, there would a world of hurt.

Just then, the first guard came limping through the door and calling out, "Hey! You catch that worth less half-elf?"

It only took the first guard seconds realize his partner being pinned to the ground by the Ranger; but before he could do or say anything else, a hand grabbed the second guards, which belonged to a very ticked Roy.

Roy used his free hand to pull his hood down, which revealed long blond hair with blue eye and most importantly, a pair of half-elf ears.

"You know, I am in a really bad mood right now. So keep talking so I have an excuse to hurt you," The older half-elf growled, and then with one swift motion, he threw said guard over to where the second was pinned.

"One day Belcoot, this group going to short one wizard!" Roy grumbled, giving the wizard the evil eye, while closed the door before someone else barged through.

Zerase glared back at this and replied, "Perhaps you would like another flying lesson?"

Roy gave mature response of sticking his tongue out the aging wizard, which she ignored and went back to comforting Will, who had settled down a little, now that the healing was almost complete.

While his wizard and rouge teammates did their usual bickering contest, Belcoot started his integration of the two guards.

"Alight now, why were you chasing her and it better be a good reason or else you're going to find out how protective Zerase and Roy can be, when it comes that girl!" Belcoot warned, knowing that with Zerase's magic and Roy's bluffing and intimidation skills combined, no could hold out for long.

The guard under Belcoot's foot spoke first "She a thief, all her kind are!"

This got the foot one on the guard's chest now hitting in the face, signaling it was the wrong answer.

"Hey it's the truth! You ever see a half-elf doing anything close honest work?" the other guard stated, only to have the Roy's foot slammed into same spot Will hit earlier.

"Are they ever allowed to work smart mouth?" Both the rouge and ranger growled at the other guard, though he was probably could not hear them with the pain he was in.

"Alright here the deal; we both know you're not going to get punished if we turn you in, but the higher ups won't like dealing with the mess, so we are all just going to forget this even happened got it?" Belcoot threatened, getting quick nods of agreement from both guards. The one who could still stand helped the other out the door, not wanting to press their luck further with the four adventures.

Unknown to them Belcoot, could actual have gotten the charges to go through with his…special connections, but he rather wait until he could get some bigger fish before showing that little ace in the hole.

After they were gone, Belcoot turned to where Will was and saw show she was being helped to her feet, though was still a bit shaken.

"Let's head up to the room, Will looks like she could use a quite place to settle down," Belcoot suggested, then turned to the old man who ran the inn.

"Send the usual up will you?" Belcoot requested, getting a nod from the owner and the group went up to the room their room, with Will being carried up by Grizz, despite her protests that she could walk.

Once they were in the large room that Belcoot's group used often, Will took a look around and saw the group had left their weapons and animal partners in the room as they normally do. The inn's owner preferred his customers not carrying weapons or having animals taking up space in the main room of the inn, mainly in case something like the fight a moment ago happened.

Grizz's animal companion was large grizzly bear, which was fitting do to his name. Grizz's weapon of choice was large club perfect for his large size if needed to use simpler methods instead of spells.

Over where Belcoot sleeps, Will saw his wolf companion along with his two scimitars for his dual weapon fighting style that many rangers who preferred close combat used.

Over to were Roy sleeps was his throwing knives and rapier all, which were perfect for the quick and accurate rouge.

The last place was Zerase's bed were Grizz was setting her down, with said wizard sitting down next to her. Zerase had kept her weapon the staff with her at all times even in the inn, but she left raven familiar in room with the other animal partners.

"So Will, what brings you here today? Besides getting away from a couple idiots that is," Belcoot asked his young friend, knowing she preferred to handle things herself after hearing how Roy lived on his own when he was her age.

'That girl has got too much pride to ask for help unless she really needs it. Way too much like Roy when he was younger…except she more mature the Roy ever will be,' the ranger thought to himself.

"I…I need your help," Will replied, looking down and feeling rather pathetic at the moment. She wanted to get the Elvin kingdom on her own like Roy did, when he once stole an item called the ring of feather fall to get over the Great Wall years ago.

With the ring, he could easily drop from almost any height safely, so he used his stealth to sneak up to the rampart of the great wall and over, before the guards could stop him. This made it easy for him to head straight for the safety and the tree line and into Elvin territory.

Will wanted to be able to find her own way over, even though Belcoot or the others had offered to make the guards let her through and escort her all the way through the forest.

"Is this about the old poacher tunnel?" Zerase asked, getting a shocked look from Will.

"We are not like the town guards Will; we have more advanced methods of finding out about certain things like that. Ones the local lord or his guards are too stingy to pay for and most of those in this town with basic skill to do them, lacked ability to get through enchantments that were in place to hide the tunnel," Zerase explained.

"Besides, we were hired to locate it by more…higher ranking people, to locate the tunnel since the town's own investigation was getting no results after year a of trying. It was thanks to your digging we were able locate the tunnel much more easily," added Belcoot, which got a confused look from Will.

"Your hands have gotten a lot rougher over the last few months, like they have been doing heavy labor. But we all know half-elves never get work anywhere and the fact this was during the winter season made it even stranger," Roy also added, in one of his moments of complete seriousness, then it was Grizz's turn to speak.

"We tried scrying your location, but something was blocking Zerase's attempts and we know you can't use magic, let alone a spell that strong. But Zerase kept trying until it seemed you slowly got out of the shielded area and it showed you digging," the large druid explained further.

Will was starting to get scared, if they were hired to investigate the tunnel that meant they were out to destroy it, just like the town guards were planning to do during their own search for it!

"Will it's…" Zerase tried to say something, but had Will shot up and ran out the room thinking she had to get back and protect the tunnel.

'They are only doing they are doing job but I can't let them!' the redhead though to herself, as she shot down the stairs and out door of the inn.

As Will made her way out, she collided with someone and whoever it was, grabbed her by the arm and yelling something at her. But all Will noticed right now was sudden burning feeling inside her, wanting to get out.

Suddenly, the feeling released itself form with the redhead, and a burst of light appeared right in front of the man's face, blinding him and allowing Will to shoot past him, leaving a few very confused people watching the scene.

As the four adventures came rushing down the stairs, they saw what happened and Roy glared at Grizz and said in a sarcastic tone, "Can't cast spells huh? Funny how that looked like a flare spell to me!"

This got him another whack on the back of the head from Zerase who growled out, "Her powers probably just awakened you fool! Now go after her!"

While Zerase dealt with Roy's stupidity, Will was running at full speed, using all the routes that Roy had taught her when they first met.

'Funny how now I am using them to stop him now,' Will thought, as she ran past people, too confused at the speeding girl's pace to notice her heritage.

The Redheaded half-elf was just heading around a corner, when she saw group of 15 guards coming down the road and two pointing at her while shouting, "She was with them sir!"

Will then realized it was the two guards from before and it seemed they did not take Belcoot's threat that seriously.

A large man about 6'5 with a large build almost as well built as Grizz stepped then forward. He wearing a captain's uniform and was not a happy one form the looks of it.

"You're under arrest half breed, for striking an officer of law!" he declared and the guards quickly swarmed the young half-elf before she get chance to start running again.

But another burning feeling coursed through her body once again while this was happening, this time feeling a little different, almost darker. But instead wondering what this different power was she called on it and slammed her first into the face of a guard the moving into grab her.

The moment the punch connected, a burst of dark purple energy exploded from her fist, badly damaging the guard's face and causing the others back away in fear.

"W-w-w-warlock!" one managed to sputter out, recognizing the strange purple energy of eldritch blast when he saw it.

Will was now even more scared and confused at this accusation, since she knew about Warlocks. Everyone (or at least most common people did) but how could she be one? She never made deal with demons or devils!

"But I...ahhh!" Will tried to explain, but a guard hit her from behind and the rest started kicking at her while was down on the ground, while the captain stood back and laughed.

"So made a deal with dark forces have you, half breed? Well it has sealed your fate!" the captain said in a mocking tone, knowing that men would not stop until the girl was dead or but then noticed his men stopped moving like they were frozen in place.

"What is happening?" the commander demanded, until he heard a cold and angry voice behind him say, "I happened!"

The large man spun around in fear to see a black haired elf with a slightly tanned skin and brown wearing a white shirt with brown pant, boots and cape. The cape had the mark of Royal Knights of Meridian on it and at elf's side, was a single edged long sword with sheath also bearing the same mark as the cape.

Will crawling past the now frozen in place men to see the woman as well. She was still recovering from the beating she just got, so could not run yet. All she could do was wait and hoped the Elvin woman was only after the guards and not her.

The captain had recovered enough to say two words, "Lady Vandom!"

Everyone but Will was shocked at this woman's name. Will on other being confused at this reason asked weakly as she struggled to get up, "Who?"

000

Author Note: Okay every one probably confused but all will be explained in due time


	4. True Power Revealed, But A Dream Crushed

Chapter 3: True Power Revealed But Dream Crushed

Susan Vandom was walking through the streets of the town called Trader's Central, using an illusion to make her look human and hide symbol of the Royal Knights.

She thought it best for her to blend in during her walk, so people would be looser lipped about many things this town had a reputation for. Mainly about the racial crimes against the offshoot of her race the half-elves.

'Why can't they all be more like her highness? It would make things so much simpler,' Susan she thought to herself, when she heard something behind her. She turned around to notice a group of 15 guards marching down the street and they did not look happy.

'Something must be up for such a large group of guards to have gotten together,' Susan concluded, when she noticed one guard a bloody face and another walking strangely.

"From what you two told me, it seems that Belcoot is sticking his nose where does not belong again. That damn half-breed lover never knows when to mind his own business!" The large one in a captain's uniform growled out, making it clear what this group was gathered for.

Susan wanted to incinerate the man on the spot, but resisted the urge for a more effective approach and waited for them to pass by so she could follow them.

While doing so, she was hearing the story of the two guards bullying a half-elf and in the end; they got humiliated by a group of four adventures.

Minutes later as Susan followed the guards, a young red headed half-elf girl came flying around a corner, ten feet away from the of deputized fools. The injured pair yelled out, "She was with them Sir!"

'This won't be easy to stop, better start preparing a mass hold person spell,' Susan thought, as she started to call on her magic, but then something caught her by surprise.

Susan sensed a dark energy coming from the girl, but it was so raw in nature there was no way the girl even knew what it was.

The pureblooded Elf watched as the young half-elf punch a guard right in the face, followed by a small burst of purple energy.

'An eldritch blast! All I can do now get the girl out of this mess and get her to Sade! Hopefully her highness can keep the girl from being murdered!' Susan thought, as she casts her spell to stop the guards from killing the young half-elf.

Susan then deactivated her illusion spell to show her true race and rank, so to put the captain in his place. She was doing a pretty good job of it, until the half-elf's question made captain act like the poor thing committed the worse crime in existence.

"Your even stupider then I thought and seeing how you're a half-breed that's saying something!" the captain yelled at the half-elf, which got him swift kick in the back from Susan just hard enough to make the man land on his face.

"Be silent or else there will be a fate worse than death in store for you!" Susan warned the one she thought was the truly stupid one and made mental note of yet another insult based on race to along with the rest of her report to Queen Sade.

Susan then made her way over to where the young girl was. She noticed the girl was trying to stand in her weaken state, probably wanting to run at this point. But with the amount of bruises the poor girl had after the sudden assault from the guards, running would be impossible at the moment.

000

Will did not know what to do now the Elvin woman was heading towards her. She always heard the elves treated half-elves better than humans did, but old habits die hard, especially when the hand of woman started to move towards her. This made Will shut her eyes tight and braced herself for what she expected to be a strike of some kind.

000

Susan was confused at girl's reaction to her reaching out to touch the child; then mentally kicked her self. She was forgetting that the young half-elf most likely had expected only violent physical contact from most people.

'Of course she will be scared. She does not know I am only trying teleport both of us to the manor…not that she would feel any better in the home of this town's leader. But at least Sade is there as well, so it should not be a problem,' Susan thought to herself, as she gently placed her hand on the girl's shoulder and began the spell.

000

Will suddenly felt something flowing through her, as she felt Elvin woman touched her shoulder.

It was almost like the first feeling she had when she blinded that man at the inn. Though instead of being a force that was burning up inside her, this one was more like a soothing nature to it, almost like it was asking to take effect, rather than just forcing its way out like before.

Because of this more gentle feeling, the redhead allowed the strange force to take hold, not knowing she was allowing a spell to affect her.

000

Just as Susan was finishing her spell, she noticed a group of four coming around the corner that the young girl had used earlier. From what the Elvin woman could tell, they matched the description the two wounded guards told to their captain.

For a moment it seemed the wizard was trying to counter Susan's teleport spell, but there was not enough time. In a flash of light, she and her half-elf passenger vanished, leaving behind the four adventures.

000

"We were too late," Grizz said, as he eyed the group of guards who seemed to have regained their ability to move after Elvin woman left.

"Yes, but it might be for the best. I got a good look at the Elvin woman's face. It was Lady Vandom, so Will should be just fine under her care. We will just have to wait to explaining things to our young friend later," Belcoot instructed, just before he noticed the two guards from earlier, who clearly had not listen to him.

"Why can't this town hire intelligent guards" Belcoot grumbled, then noticed the captain had finally got back up to his feet and had the look of someone who wanted to pick a fight.

"You won't be lucky as your half-breed friend! Arrest them all!" the captain commanded, but then noticed Grizz's animal companion come around the corner. The larger Grizzly let out a roar, causing the lower rank guard to start shaking in fear.

"It's only one grizzly bear, what can it do against all us?" captain proclaimed, which got the guards draw their swords, now thinking they had a chance simply because of their captain's confidence.

"This is what he can do," Grizz stated calmly and touched his partner on the head. Slowly, the bear grew to the size of a house, making all the guards look up in terror.

A few of the spectators who were brave enough to stick around for the fight, could have sworn they heard the captain squeak out the word, "Mummy!"

000

While the four adventures dealt with the guards, Susan and Will appeared in a room in Lord McDohl's manor. Irving McDohl was the one ran Trader's Central and was one of biggest to be affected by the Queen's restrictions, when she made the treaty with the Elves.

This of course meant he was rumored to be one of the biggest violators of laws against racist acts towards half-elves. But with no proof except for few guards here and there, there were no solid grounds to charge Lord McDohl directly. Only low rank troops or rarely petty officers like the captain from earlier.

But Susan had more pressing concerns at the moment then worrying about Lord McDohl right now. The first and foremost was getting this young half-elf to feel safe and calm. That way Susan might be able to ask her question about the origins of girl's powers.

'If we are lucky it won't be from direct contact with demons or devils,' Susan thought, being more informed on the multiple sources of warlock power then the guards or this girl would be.

Kneeling down so to be at eye level with the redhead, the pure blooded elf spoke gently, "Please open your eyes little one, your safe here," hoping that a little kindness would help get the girl to open up to her.

000

Will hearing this, plus noting the strangely warmer, quieter and more peaceful feeling in the area around her, slowly opened her eyes and was surprised see she was in a simple yet well decorated room.

The floor were made of dark colored wood, the walls were painted white with one wall had window that over looked a stone cobble courtyard.

In the room there was only three pieces of furniture a bed, a dresser, and a desk but all were made of the same dark wood as the floor that were simple yet artistic in design.

But of course to Will, a room like this was fit for royalty from her limited view of the world. Of course, this was just a simple guest room in reality. But to most half-elves, rooms of even barley decent quality were impressive.

000

Susan smiled at the child's shocked and awed expression, as she looked around the room. "I'm going to go get someone who can help protect you from those guards and others who might try to hurt you, so please wait here alright?" the Elvin woman asked, snapping the child out of her trance and giving Susan a small and nervous nod.

Susan gave her young guest a sympathetic smile and left room quickly, heading down the corridor that lead the Queen's room and knocked once she reached the double door of Sade's room.

"Enter," a voice said from the other side of door, which Susan did to see a woman with long blond hair dressed in the attire fitting for the Queen's station. Sade was sitting at a desk going over several documents that were meant finally putting an end to the days of those of the half-elf race would have to force their way past the great wall.

"Susan? What brings you here?" the Queen asked, knowing that her only pure blooded elf knight was last seen heading into town and she normally was not seen again until later this evening. Something must have come up and the Queen felt like it going to be unpleasant.

'Good thing all that is left to do with the documents is to sign them because I get the feeling this will need my full attention,' Sade thought, as she studied the displeased mystic Elvin warrior's face.

"Your highness…" Susan said, taking a deep breath for the new she about to pass on the royal monarch.

"During my walk through town, I encountered a situation the violated several laws which officers of law abused their authority and using unnecessary force to take custody of a most likely innocent civilian, all due racial origins," Susan explained, then told the story of what happened earlier.

000

After about forty-five minutes of explaining the situation and answering the Queen's questions about the matter, the pair headed back to Susan's room. Upon entering, they saw the young half-elf was sleeping on top of the bed.

Sade gave her close friend a sad smile and said, "Normally I would say we should let her rest, but it's best to get the questioning and the test over and done with as soon as possible."

Susan nodded her head in agreement with this and the two women then made their way over to the bed, where Susan gently shook the girl in an attempt to wake her.

"Little one, I'm back," Susan said, as the drowsy twelve year old opened her eyes.

000

Will looked up to see elf from earlier, plus a new woman in more regal attire masking, her shoot up. "I'm sorry I…" Will tried to stammer out an unneeded apology, but was silenced by the two women giggling at her action.

"No need to worry young one, from what I heard you have had long day…but I needed to ask you some questions about your powers unfortunately," Sade explained gently, noticing girl instantly become afraid.

"I don't know how I did that…it just happed!" Will exclaimed, as tears began swelling up in her eyes.

"I swear I'm not warlock, I have never even talked to any demons or devils," Will continued to explain, burying her face into her hands as she let out a few sobs, while the two women looked sadly at the her.

000

Susan and Sade could tell the young half-elf was telling the truth. From what Susan saw when she first saw the girl use the dark power and noticing the red head was shocked at what happened; there was little doubt the child was aware of what was going on.

Both women were very skilled at reading people to see if they were lying, so they knew the young girl before them was being honest.

"It's alright, we believe you….I apologize, I never did ask for your name or even introduce myself did I?" Susan said placed her hand on the child's shoulder to comfort the girl.

"I am Susan Vandom of the Royal Knights, what your name little one?" Susan asks gently, hoping to get a response. It seemed to work, as the girl looked up at her with a look of surprise. Susan was not sure if it was because of hearing the rank of the one who saved her or the fact that someone believed something she said…though Susan had a feeling it was probably both unfortunately.

Sade watched as Susan calmed the girl down enough to get a name, knowing she would have to introduce herself as well soon. But how to do so without intimidating the young one would be the trick, since the child seemed to lack knowledge of those of high social rank outside of the town officials.

Sade put these concerns aside when she noticed the girl now trying to speak. "M…my name is Will," she heard the young half-elf say. Both women were surprised the girl had name more suited to a boy, but assumed it could short for something.

"Is that a shorter version of you name Will?" Sade asked, getting the girl's attention, but noticed a girl was distant for moment as if reliving a memory and it did not seem like a good one.

"It was the only thing my…father called me, when not using half-breed names," Will explained in a tone that made it clear to both others present, that she was afraid of the man.

Before any one could say or ask anything else, there was a loud banging on the door. "Lady Vandom, I demand an explanation!" a voice from the other side of said door, which caused the two women to silently groan.

They both knew it was Lord McDohl and from the present anger in his voice, they guessed he heard of Susan interfering with those guards from earlier. It was only when Susan got in the way of his men doing their 'duty', did the lord ever dare demand something from the higher ranking royal knight.

'Once again the man is going claim Susan was in the wrong, then say he was ignorant of the true actions of his men when I tell him Susan's side of the story,' Sade thought to herself, though knew the Lord will probably try to use Will's warlock powers to gain a small victory this time around.

As Sade thought this she stood and said "I'll handle this Susan. You just focus on helping Will calm down, so we can finish up our conversation after I make the blow hard leave," the Queen stated and marched over to the door, surrounded by an air of authority that only a Queen or King seemed to posses.

Sade opened the door to see the face of an angry looking 50 year old man, with short gray hair and medium build, dressed in the uniform a of high ranking Warmage. This man was Irving McDohl, one of the most annoying lords Sade had to deal with.

The look of anger on the lord\s face changed to one of shock upon seeing the Queen and quickly bent down on to one knee. "Your highness I beg your pardon. If I had know you were talking to Lady Vandom I…" Irving said hoping to save his skin from the queen's wrath, but that was a lost cause.

"Don't try to talk yourself out this insult Lord McDohl! How dare you demand that a member of my elite knights answer to you!" Sade growled out with a tone that had made men of even the strongest will, crumble before her.

000

While this was happening, Will was in a state of state both awe and fear. She had been talking to the Queen of Meridian without even knowing it, which was the reason for her awed state. The fear came from the fact that she was worried that the Queen might have been insulted that a low ranking peasant had not been showing the proper respect.

"You highness, I meant no disrespect but…Lady Vandom stopped some of my guards from taking custody of a dangerous warlock!" Lord McDohl replied, not meeting the Queen's angry gaze, knowing she most likely had already heard about the incident from Lady Vandom. It was most likely that he would have to punish and discharge more of his men and replace them with ones more to her majesty's liking.

'That Elf is getting in the way far too often! It's bad enough I have to deal with Belcoot and his friends all the time, but now 'Lady Vandom' is causing me additional grief! Well, at least she will be leaving in a few days and she will be out of the way for awhile!' the lord thought to himself, not liking the fact the Queen had come personally to implement the new law she had created.

The new law allowed any half-elf with a special pass to go through the gates with ease. Queen Sade had even brought 50 new officers with her, who had shown they would enforce this new law.

Lord McDohl did not want the impure creatures to go through the gates of the great wall. In his eyes, they were the ones who needed to pay the price for the restrictions placed on them by the pure blooded elves.

Queen Sade wanted to snort at this statement, but controlled herself. 'Dangerous my foot, Will was only defending herself! She did not even know what she was doing when that eldritch blast went off!' she thought to herself, before speaking.

"Lady Vandom has already told me, in great detail I might add, at what your men had done before they went to gather reinforcements to deal with one child and four adults!" The first blow to McDohl's case was just dealt and Sade was only warming up.

"Lady Vandom quiet clearly heard them saying they saw some in someone they assumed was a half-elf hiding their racial features. When they confirmed this, they bragged on how and I quote 'they decided to make sure the half breed got what she deserved!'"At this moment, Lord McDohl wanted to curse the heightened hearing of the blasted Elvin race, as Sade continued.

"As Lady Vandom continued to listen to them retell their story, one said he took great pleasure in breaking the girl's arm, as punishment for fighting back. I don't think that appropriate behavior for a guard who was in the wrong from the start. Good thing there someone to heal the injury shortly after said person stopped the attack on the girl." once again, another part of the story McDohl could not defend against, even if it based off what Lady Vandom heard and not saw take place.

"Then let's not forget the fact that Lady Vandom saw your men then try to harm the girl, who accidentally unleashed her power when protecting herself. The power is believed to have been dormant until now from what Lady Vandom witnessed, so you men's attempt to kill her for being a warlock was nothing more than attempted murder! A crime that better not go unpunished, along with all their other offences!" Sade stated, enjoying making the man before her squirm.

"Of course your highness, it will be done at once," Lord McDohl replied in defeat, and started to leave, when Sade added, "And also Lord McDohl, the four adventures are pardoned for attacking the town guards, since it was in the defense of an innocent." Sade knew the racist lord was hopping she would forget that little fact, so saying it at the last moment would be like rubbing salt into an open wound.

"Of course, I'll see that it's done my queen," the defeated lord answered with his back turned, so to hide his anger and closed the door behind him. McDohl knew trying to claim Lady Vandom was wrong would next to impossible, so he had to let the Elvin woman gain complete victory so that he would not have further punishments from the queen.

As Lord McDohl left, Sade turned around towards the room with pleased smile on her face, but then noticed Will looking straight at her with the two emotions from early still on her face. Susan appeared to be trying calm Will but her efforts were lost, due the half-elf being such a state of shock.

"Not the way I hoped to introduce myself to you will. As you have probably guessed, I am Sade Queen of Meridian and if you're worried about something like not bowing in my presence or calling me your highness don't be. It is actually quite a refreshing change," Sade said to

Will, finally getting the young girl to snap back to reality.

"Yes your high…I mean you maj…no I mean…" Will started stuttering out, causing the two women to laugh, finding the poor girl's predicament humors.

But they quickly got themselves back under control, wanting to finish up last bit of business so they could let Will rest after all that's happen today.

"You can call me Sade. The proper forms of address are only needed when in public or when nobles are present, Susan is one of my closest friends, so formalities are not needed here at this time," Sade explain, noticing Will had settled down a bit though still clearly nerves. It understandable, seeing how many people tend to intimidate by those of higher social rank.

"Well let's move on to one last thing, before me and Susan do a little test for your power Will. Don't worry, like Susan said earlier, we believe you but there are other ways to gain warlock power than those of dark origins," Sade explained, as she saw Will get frightened when heard about the test.

Will nods confirming she understands though she wished she could just disappear right now. She was not used to all this attention and knowing her luck, her friend had already at the tunnel using Zerase's and Grizz's magic to destroy it. All she wanted to do was go and find a new place to stay, seeing how her old one was most likely gone by now.

"Now as Susan heard, someone named Belcoot helped you. Are you friends with him?" Sade asked, getting another nod from Will, making the Queen get the feeling she would not be hearing the young girl speak any time soon.

"Well then, it's safe to guess you're the reason they located the poacher tunnel then. For that I thank you. I hired them during the mid fall season to locate it and they were not having much luck, until they said a half-elf friend of theirs started to finish it," Sade said, causing Will to look at the monarch in shock once again.

But before Will could say anything to defend her hard work, the Queen started to speak again, "I can't blame you for wanting a better life and if it was not for your newly gained power, I would keep to my agreement to allow you finish and use the tunnel to enter Elvin lands before they destroyed it."

At first Will thought this meant she would have apologize to her friends for running out before letting them explain anything. But then realized the Queen said her powers had changed all that.

"But why?" was all Will managed to say, as she felt all hope was lost was she still going to punished, even if her power came from a different source the demons or devils?

"While they do treat half-elves better than humans do, the majority of my people treat warlocks rather harshly, unless good fey or divine beings are the source of the warlock's power," Susan explained, as Sade prepared herself to make choice for the girl that would most likely crush all of Will's original hopes for her future.

"That is why I want to put you through a special test Will. If we are lucky, your power will be from a source that is acceptable in the eyes of the elves. If not, I'll have to forbid you from ever going to the Elvin Kingdom," This was clearly upsetting Will, but Sade had already had something to make it up to the redhead.

"But to make it up to you, I'll send you some place where you will safe, just to be sure Lord McDohl does not try to stir up trouble for you because you're a warlock. I'll say to insure you're not a 'threat' as he calls it, you will be placed in what called forced serves…do you know what that means?" Sade asked Will, getting a shake of her head, signaling the young girl did not know what it meant.

"Its sentence given to small time thieves, ones who are proven to only steal to survive, which sadly would probably be true in your case correct?" Sade getting nod from Will, who as to be expected, did not like this backup plan so far.

"When someone is in forced serves, they are given an amount of gold they have to earn. This gold is in essence, meant to be used buy their freedom back. This gold is then given to those who were the ones who got stolen from or in some cases, when we don't know how much give what person, is used to fund projects that help that community in the future," Sade explained, who was surprised by Will seemed to like the idea.

Unknown to the two women, Will was thinking this was her chance; she wanted to make up for all her stealing. At least now she could at least complete one of her smaller goals but then noticed the two women were staring at her.

"I wanted to do that already," Will explained with a small blush, as the two women smiled at girl's honest nature, a rare thing to find in one had take what she needed to live. Most in Will's position would not care, just as long as they got what they needed and/or wanted.

"Well then, you might be going to get your chance. But first, let's see if what your power comes from like. I said, we might get lucky and it will be alright for you enter the Elvin lands," Sade said, as she waved her hand and a blue orb appeared in front of Will.

"Place you hands on the orb Will and we will see what the source of your power is," Sade instructed Will, and the half-elf slowly touched orb in front of her.

The second both hands were placed on the crystal sphere, a warm feeling passed through Will's body, causing her have slight glow; but Susan and Sade were more focused of the orb at the moment to pay attention to this minor detail.

They were surprised to see the symbol for Gifted appear in the orb, both wondering what this young girl's hidden talents would be to go along with her warlock power. The two women noticed a Sword appear next to the gifted symbol, marking the first of Will's classes.

'She is a natural fighter. If the warlock is her other class, Will will be a force to be feared with the proper training, no matter where she lives,' both Sade and Susan though as they waited for what they hoped would warlock class to appear next.

But instead, a dragon head, which representing sorcery, appeared to the right of the gifted symbol shocking both of them.

'She is the same as me/Susan!' both woman thought, as they found out Will was gifted in both classes Susan was gifted in.

But they were in for a bigger surprise, when they saw another picture formed below the gifted symbol 'How much potential does she have!' they both again exclaimed in their minds at the same time, noticing new image was of an eldritch blast.

'Gifted in three classes and one of them the one we are waiting for. Will, you're in for a lot of hard work with kind of potential you have,' Susan thought, as Sade prayed to her god that ether the fey or the divine as the source of Will warlock power, though she also prayed that Will did not have any other classes she was gifted in.

If Will have anymore classes then the three, Sade might have to try and make the girl stay and train to be a knight of the kingdom! Maybe with a half-elf able to stand up the other nobles, they would back off from the rest of the race!

To the lower left of the warlock symbol was a crib, showing that Will was born with her warlock powers. Both Susan and Sade knew this only meant Will was blood related to a warlock, not where the warlock got their power from, but that was most likely coming next.

The final symbol in the lower right started to form and both women kept praying to every known god it was not the demon or devil symbol. But their prayers were not answered, because a demon head appeared and then the orb stopped growing.

Will looked back and forth between Susan and Sade with hopeful look in eyes. "What is it! What is it!" she asked rapidly, reminding them of a hyperactive girl two women knew all too well (Any one care to guess who?)

Susan looked at Will sadly and replied, "Well there is some good new but not the kind you wanted to hear" Susan then watched helplessly as Will fell to her knees.

Susan knew that while the girl did like the idea of paying off her dept, she also knew Will's hopes were more set on a new home, so Susan went over to the crying girl and pulled her into a hug to try and comfort her. Sade on the other hand could just watch and feel completely helpless, despite all her power and authority.

Though unknown to anyone else present in the room, the wheel of destiny was starting to turn for this girl and her fate would affect countless others.


	5. Old Life Ends, New One Begins

AN: Don't own W.I.T.C.H. or D&D

Special thanks to Sniper Fodder for being my beta.

Sorry for taking so long but Sniper's Internet connection went down so it took a while to edit.

Special Note: Due to several races being skilled at engineering even though they are not mentioned in the reference chapter, strangely there are such things as indoor plumbing and such so…ya. Weird but true.

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Chapter 4: Old Life Ends, A New One Begins

Will had cried her self to sleep while Susan tried to comfort the distraught child who was now being tucked under the blankets of Susan's bed. After she was done Susan turned to Sade who had moved to sit down at the near by desk.

"I Guess there was no easy to way to tell a young girl that all her struggling and hard work was for nothing," The pure blooded elf said with a hint anger at her peoples blind hatred of warlocks whose powers came from dark origins. Even if the origin was indirectly from another like Will's case, were she was born with warlock power because an ancestor of hers made a deal with a demon.

"No race is perfect Susan at least yours is not as blind at mine is most of the time…this just happens to be one of the few things most elves don't accept easily," Sade said hopping to calm the elvin woman down before she started making to much noise.

Susan let out a low growl as she slowly sat down at the far end of bed not wanting to wake Will from her semi-peaceful sleep. There was a slight whimper every now again showing the girl's slumber was not going to be as restful as the one she had earlier.

There was a silence for moment before Susan finally spoke. "I get her," Was all she said making it clear she wanted to be the one who employed Will durring her forced service 'sentence'.

This got the elf a grin from the younger woman "Who did you think I had in mind? Out of few I really trust, you're the only one who Will knows and hopefully trusts. You're also the best one to handle her unusual combination of classes," Sade said getting an understanding nod from her friend.

Susan being gifted in the fighter and sorcerer classes made her best able to set an effective training program for will, and due to personal reasons Susan had a better understanding of warlock power then many other non-warlocks.

Though unlike a wizard's arcane magic, the power of both the sorcerer and warlock were mostly self-taught. But some one who has experience or knowledge of how the powers worked allowed them to gain basic control and tactics much sooner.

"It will be harder then normal training, even by gifted standards since she does have three classes while most only have two. But how can she train while she needs to work off what ever amount you give her?" Susan asked, and then realized something.

"How much are you giving her?" Susan asked knowing half-elves normally had massive amounts given to them, even by fair judges because of how much they needed to steal just to survive.

Sade thought for second "Well, first of all, even while serving her sentence she needs to learn control over her powers. Officially we can tell Will that it's so she can pay the amount quicker, since she would be able to perform more complex tasks such as helping with research, or help when you do the occasional patrol," Sade explained getting a nod from Susan

"The amount though…" Sade said in a tone that made her look at Susan with slight fear in her eyes. This gave the full-blooded elf the feeling that she was not going to like the amount. Sade was rarely afraid of anything, but one of the few things that did scare the Queen was an upset Susan.

"100,000 gold pieces" Sade said, quickly casting two spells to make Susan mute and hold her in place so the elf did not wake the sleeping Will. Of course this also doubled as a way to limit the very angry woman's ability to harm the young Queen, seeing as how the gifted fighter/sorcerers could easily crush Sade in direct combat.

To say Susan was angry right now would the biggest understatement any one could ever make '100,000 gold pieces! Is the woman insane?!? The most some one can earn durring forced service is 50 gold a month, unless their work is life threatening!' Susan thought to her self as she was frozen in place only a foot away from the Queen.

Sade let out a breath she had been holding. She had forgotten how fast her friend could be, especially when angered as she noted the how close a pair of hands were to grabbing her. Hopping Susan was still listening in her extremely angry state, Sade started to explain her-self.

"I'll remove the spells once I finish," The still unnerved Queen said to the angry glare of the frozen elf before her.

"You need time to train Will. A large amount will provide that, and don't worry. I don't expect you to be sending her on dangerous assignments. Besides, one of us will be paying the amount. Would you honestly believe I would have a child spend her whole life slaving away to pay off that much gold?" Sade said, then released the spell on Susan bracing her self just incase.

Fortunately Susan had calmed down a bit and now had regained some self control. "Still, don't you think that is a bit much? You could easily make a smaller amount and I would still have plenty of time to teach her what she needs to know," The elvin woman stated, still a bit upset.

Sade shook her head. "Not with what I want you to teach her, along with her magic, fighting skills, and basic education," This got Susan to raise an eyebrow, getting a playful smile from the Queen.

"Oh, you know how hard it is for a child to learn all the things one needs to know to handle life among royalty and nobility…you might not have noticed how attached and protective you have become of this girl, but I have," Sade said making Susan's eyes to widen as she now realized this as well.

"I guess your right, but let's focus on giving Will a basic education before we worry about teaching her things…that would need me to adopt her." This was a touchy subject for Susan and Sade knew it was touchy, but they both knew it had to be said.

Sade then sighed sadly whishing her friend could move on. But that was down side to having such a long life span. Elves tended to grieve longer then humans tend to think necessary. But to elves a few decades of grieving was normal, so to Susan the…incident, might as well have been yesterday.

"Well, I'll let you think things over. You have got at least a couple of years before Will's training is complete any way," Sade said getting up to leave, only looking back as she closed the door to see Susan moving the chair over next to the bed to watch over the sleeping girl.

Two hours later around four o'clock in the afternoon, Will began to stir. Susan was still sitting next to the bed as she watched the young girl slowly sit up and look around a little confused on how she had gotten tucked into the nice warm bed.

"You were so worn out from every thing today, the bad news must have sapped the last of your energy and you fell asleep so I tucked you in," Susan explained to the young girl who looked like the memories that were coming back, so the elvin woman quickly changed the subject to keep the girl from getting too upset again.

"I have some good news despite all that's happened" Susan said getting Will to look at her with a somewhat hopeful look in her eyes.

"You see you have rare and special talent for multiple classes called a Gifted," Susan explained with Will looking shocked. She had been called many things, but special was not one of them.

"You are a little different then most because you have three classes while most gifted only have two…which is part of the reason her highness is leaving you in my custody for the duration of the sentence" Susan explained making Will ask her question.

"What do you mean by 'part of the reason'?" Will asked with a hint of nervousness in her tone. She wondered if this meant they wanted some one strong to watch over her because she was different.

Susan gave the girl a reassuring smile "Some one needs to train you to make sure all this potential does not go to waste. Since I am the only one able to teach you all three of your classes as well as protect you from those who will fear that potential," she explained once again making Will surprised.

'I'm just a half-elf how can I have any kind of potential or be special in any way, especially in a way that people would be afraid of me?' Will thought to her self while Susan watched the confusion on Will's face. Most likely not believing she could be any thing but worthless in other peoples eyes.

'I am going to have work on putting an end to that' Susan thought to her self knowing that achieving that goal would take some time but with enough encouragement it was possible.

After a moment of silence, a loud grumbling sound came from Will's stomach making her blush from embarrassment as she looked down at her lap. Susan was about to say something when softer but still noticeable grumbling coming from her own stomach.

Both looked at each other both holding back a giggle "I'll go get us something to eat you wait here and relax" Susan said as she got up and in flash of light she teleported to the kitchen leaving behind a gasping Will.

'Do I get to learn to do that?' the young half-elf thought to her self as Susan vanished.

The cooks in the kitchen were also surprised to see Lady Vandom appear suddenly, though the Head Chef was more annoyed then surprised. But he quickly put on a on friendly face "Lady Vandom what do we owe the pleasure of this visit?" he asked.

Susan was no fool. She knew the Head Chef did not like her because she had a habit showing up hours after meals were served, due to her walks through town. When she did return she used the left over food to make 'peasants food' as he called it. Though Susan called them sandwiches.

'The man does not know good food when he sees it. Lord McDohl must prefer people as full of them selves as he is under his service' Susan mused to her self as she focused on the man before her.

"Just here to get some tea and some food for a guest of mine and I," Susan answered with a friendly tone of her own, though whole staff knew if it were possible that these two would glare each other to death.

The Head Chief being able to hear about every thing that went on in the manor, knew the guest Lady Vandom meant was the half-elf warlock she had saved. To the Head Chef the idea was absurd saving that double freak of nature, as was the idea of HIS food being given to it.

"I'm sorry but dinner won't be served for another hour I'm afraid, so please wait…" the Head Chef said still using friendly voice but his face got annoyed when she interrupted him.

"But we are hungry now so if you'll excuse me" Susan said and started to walk past him. The Head Chef did the stupidest thing any one could do and that was to try and stop her and grabbed her by the arm.

"In this kitchen my lady you will follow my rules," the arrogant man stated which got him grabbed by the collar by a now very angry elf.

"Remove your hand or I'll remove it for you…permanently!" Susan stated with equal force her eyes looking down at the sword that was still at her side. Nether of the two looked like they were backing down until young woman came up to them with tray on a cart.

Both the chief and the royal knight glanced to see it had tea and a large platter of sandwiches cut into triangle shaped sections, four for each sandwich and all stacked neatly. This of course got a pleased look from Susan and an angry look from the Head Chef.

"Here is your order my lady…and save your breath you big bag of wind I quite. Besides I learned all your trade secrets anyway" the younger chef said and marched out before the stunned man could say any thing.

As the woman left Susan was laughing as she easily slipped out of the man's grasp and teleported back to the room were Will was waiting still in the bed and once again shocked by the flash of light.

"If and when do I learn to do that?" Will asked making Susan's already good mood even better as she giggled at the young girl's question.

"Kids never change. They always want to learn the complicated spells first" Susan said as she poured some tea for the both of them and from the smell of it, the former cook of McDohl used some of lord's personal tea.

'Wonder if she is part rogue with that clever mind of hers' Susan mused as she added some sugar to her own tea then asked how much Will wanted. Of course since Will had never had tea before she did not know so Susan did the same to Will's cup as she did to her own.

Once that was done, Susan had to say she was impressed with how many sandwiches the woman had made durring fight with the head chief 'Yep I think that woman would have made a good rogue if she was not already one' the elf thought again as she and Will ate their food.

To say Will needed to work on her table manners was understatement in Susan's eyes. But Susan guessed that was because Will did not have any one to teach her such things.

Susan thought about starting Will's lesson with proper table manners, but decided she would just let the girl eat her food her way for now. They were going to have plenty of time for teaching proper eating habits later.

'Though she might enjoy the food more if she chewed it instead of inhaling it' Susan thought to her self as she ate food, then noticed Will slowing down all of a sudden. She saw Will watching closely which confused Susan for moment, then having an idea started to eat again.

Will of course had finally noticed that Susan was eating differently then her. Then she recalled Zerase lecturing her on not eating like a pig…or Roy and started to watch how Susan ate. Once the woman across from her moved she tried to mimic it, which confirmed what Susan suspected.

'She's doing good but she is only watching how my hand and mouth move. But it's a start' Susan thought to her self knowing Will would need to work on posture, how she sat and other bits of miner body language to match her perfectly.

After they were done Susan moved the tray out of the way and went over to the desk to get something out of a drawer but spoke while doing so.

"Good try Will. There is a little more to eating properly then what you were doing but you did well by just watching what I did. Use that method when ever your learning something for the first time and you'll advance quickly" Susan complimenting the girl attempt at proper etiquette.

This made Will blush because she was not used to being complimented that often seeing as how Belcoot and the others were the only ones to teach her any thing and that was rare.

Will then noticed Susan was coming back with a book and gestured for the girl to climb under the blankets on the other side of the bed before the elvin woman climb under them as well.

Will was confused by this until she noticed Susan was opening the book to show it was a book of stories for some one younger then her. But Zerase had used similar books recently to help her with the limited reading skills she had at this point.

"I know most children your age out side of those who are of noble birth tend to have a random skill level of reading. I would like for you to show me what your skill level is and then I can help you improve on what you know," Susan instructed and handed the book to Will.

Will took the book wondering why Susan had this with her but thought it better not to ask. The way Susan handled the book as well as how she looked at it made it seem like it was special in some way to her. Will did not pry into some else's life.

Will started to read with Susan every so often helping Will with words she had trouble saying or miss read. The elvin woman never lost patience with Will and kept Will calm when the young half-elf got frustrated. Susan noticed that Will might have improved slightly as they went on.

By the time they finished it was starting to get dark and Will was getting tired again so Susan got changed into some pajamas. Susan wished she had something for Will to change into but all of her cloths were too big, but Will did not seem to mind.

Susan thought about just going into what the elves call the four-hour trance which was what they considered sleep but she wanted to make sure Will fell asleep first. So she climbed back under the cover and did something Will thought would never happen to her, some one read her a bedtime story.

Will first felt it was a little silly but thought it would be a nice to have some else do the reading for while! But as Susan read the book of children's stories to her she was felt almost hypnotized by how elvin woman's voice sounded as she read and quickly drifted off to sleep.

Once Will was sleeping soundly Susan put the book down and got into a meditation position and entered her trance. She knew that she would wake up well before any one else, but she was used to that though since she usually did her morning training session durring those early hours.

Early the next morning Will woke up forgetting were she was and thought soft warm bed was part of a dream for few minutes until the memories came flooding back. Once Will's memories were back her hand shot over to were Susan should have been and found nothing.

This caused Will to shoot up and look around the room to see Susan in mid movement of something that looked like a dance. Unknown to Will, Susan was actually doing what was called katas, which were used to practice martial arts.

But Will suddenly panic made Susan turn to the young girl thinking a nightmare had maybe woken her up seeing how it was only four in the morning "Will are all right? Did you have a bad dream?" Susan asked looking a little worried at the panicked look on Will's face.

The look quickly changed to relief as Will answered, "No I just…forgot were I was for moment" Susan could tell that was not the whole truth but she did not see a need to press the girl for answers.

'She did seem to settle down once she saw me…probably sensed some one was in the room and was not sure it was me' Susan thought to her self as she went back to her katas.

Of course Susan was a bit off in her guess because while Will would not admit it she was scared that Susan was not near her when she woke up.

'Why was I scared? It does not make any sense' Will thought to her self, but got her mind off of it by watching Susan do her strange movements, trying figure out what this strange dance was.

Susan noticed Will's confused stare and thought now was as good as time as any to start Will's lessons. "Will could you come over here please?" and got a confused nod from the young half-elf as she did as she was told.

As Will got close Susan gently removed the tattered cloak that Will was still wearing. Susan cringed now that she could clearly see what Will had to call cloths as she tossed the cloak off to the side.

'I swear if ether of her parents are still alive I'll kill them for letting her live this kind of life' Susan vowed as she pointed down at the strips of cloth wrapped around Will's feet "Your feet won't hurt if you takes those off will they?" she asked.

Will looked at Susan getting even more confused "No I don't think so" which she then got a request to remove the pieces of cloth. Will did this wondering but did not ask as she did as she was told then tossed the rags over to were Susan left the cloak.

Susan made a mental note to have Will take a bath after they were done because of the layers upon layers of dirt that covered the girl. But for now Susan got into a stance "Will try to mimic what I do okay?"

Hearing this question made Will ask, "You want me to be your dancing partner?" this of course took Susan by surprise and she nearly fell over laughing and it took a while for Susan to calm down enough to explain.

"No Will this is not dancing, though I can see why you would think it was because of the movements" Susan said then got back into the stance.

"Try to attack me" she instructed thinking it was the best way to explain every thing. Though at the moment it just made Will gasp in shock, as she shook her head no.

"Don't worry it will help to show what I was doing and if you do land a hit I'll be alright," Susan said with a look in her eyes that reassured Will enough to believe her. Will closed her fists and charged Susan swinging with a non-stop barrage of the worst punches Susan had ever seen.

Susan with one hand defecting each attack with ease for a about a minute before she thought it was time to end it.

When Will threw her next punch Susan grabbed her arm and all sudden Will felt her self landing on the bed which was about 6 feet away from were she had been. As she rolled on to her stomach she look up to see the palm of Susan coming at her face.

Will shut her eyes tight bracing her self the blow. Instead getting hit she felt a finger scratching her gently on the nose. Will's eyes opened to see Susan's smileing face in front of her "Elvin martial arts style Dancing Leaf, and your about to learn some of the basics"

With that Susan helped the slightly shaken Will back to were they had begun the lesson. This time though Will just mimicked the stances Susan showed her. Each new stance she was asked to hold the position while Susan walked around Will in a circle, eyeing the stance.

This was so Susan could help correct Will on little flaws she might have made such as were the foot was placed and such. Will absorbed information like a sponge, though she had only gotten only a few of the most basic stances learned before Susan said it was time to quite.

"You did very well Will, though you have long way to go before we do any thing like actual attack or defense techniques but that's normal" Susan said to her student and noticed Will absorb something else besides information.

Will seemed to absorb praise like a man dying from thirst would guzzle water. It's normal for children to want hear they did a good job but for Will it was like she had gotten the best present ever for her birthday.

Susan had remind to her self that Will up until yesterday had only four people who accepted her and that number had only gone up by two 'Of course she would act like this at a simple comment' Susan thought to her self grimly, then heard a knock on the door.

Before Susan could answer two women Susan recognized as Sade's handmaidens entered. "Her highness suggested we help Miss Will get cleaned up" one said and they held up a couple of baskets that had every thing the two of them would need for the task.

Will looked at Susan and was about to ask something when the two servants each took one of Will's hands and pulled their victim out into the hallway and lead her to the bathroom.

Susan knowing Will was going to panic sooner or later durring all this followed closely, smirking as Will looked back at her with a pleading expression on her face. Susan could tell the girl was asking to be saved from these strange women seeing how she had know idea on what was going on.

Susan knew that Will would realize what was going on soon enough as they entered the nearby bathroom. It was decorated with white walls, a blue marble floor, a tub up against the wall, and a mirror on the farthest wall.

Of course Will did not have time to notice any of this as she was quickly stripped bare. Will shrieked at her sudden nudeness wondering why Susan was not saving her yet from these two mad women.

Said elf was closing the door behind them so the poor girl's future shrieks and yells would not have the lord of the manor bothering them. As the handmaidens lifted Will into the tub, the sudden hot water made Will try to jump out. But she was quickly stopped by one of the pair while the second got a small bucket.

The bucket was used to scoop up some of the water and was lifted over Will's head. "Please shut your eyes Miss Will" the one with bucket in instructed the still struggling girl then poured the content on to Will's head.

Will had just closed her eyes in time and before she could go back to struggling the pair were moving one to the next task. One was starting to rubb shampoo into Will's hair as the other took an arm and started to scrub it clean.

'How I wish I could preserve this moment right now' Susan thought to her self with a smirk as Will glared at the elf with her hair now covered in so much shampoo it looked almost like a light shade of pink instead red.

The bathing had begun around 5:30 in the morning, and it should therefore be about 6:30 Susan calculated as the two handmaidens finally let Will out of her prison of water and suds.

It had been quite comical once Will had calmed down enough to realiz she was being washed and not attacked. Of course the young half-elf did not like being scrubbed so hard that her skin turned almost as red as her normal hair color.

It seemed they also decided to continue the torture by nick-naming her "The Pink Haired Lobster". This made Will make several threats to bite some one if they did not knock it off which only fanned the flames of the teasing as they helped Will out of the tub.

Unfortunately when Will thought the madness was over, the two handmaidens had her sit down on a short stool to give Will a quick trim to even out the short but crudely cut hair of hers.

"Not like I could do much with a rusted knife and a piece broken glass for a mirror," Will grumbled under her breath, but the three women present heard her words anyway, giving them a sad smile on all their faces.

Susan thought that all that was left to wrap this circus up was to see if she knew Sade as well as she thought she did and asked, "You would not happen to have something for her to wear would you?"

This made the three others in the room turn to Susan. One was looking back and forth between the elf and the pile rags she had called cloths while the other two smiled.

"Why yes. Her highness sent us for them yesterday," One answered and taking out one of the baskets they used to carry all the bathing supplies in. The handmaid then took out a pair of black pants and red tunic along with a pair of boots.

The two servants helped Will slip into her new cloths that were a bit loose, but they said that was so she would not have to replace the cloths to soon after she gained a more healthy weight. Though she could be worse off, Will was far to thin for it to be healthy.

The two handmaids took a few steps away from Will so to see the fruits of their labor and like Susan, they thought it was a bit of a transformation.

Will's hair was now a bright red with all the grime now washed out of it. Will of course was wondering why they were looking at her like she had grown a second head "What?" she asked looking very confused.

Susan was the first to recover and pointed to the vanity mirror behind Will and said with a kind smile on her face "Look in the mirror and you'll find out." Will did so still confused until she got a good look at her self and noticed what a little water and soap…and a lot of scrubbing could do.

Will touched her facing thinking to her self 'This can't be me' as she looked at the girl before her in the mirror.

Of course Will did not have a very feminine body yet being only twelve, but those present knew the young half-elf was a flower waiting to blossom, though she could probably turn few heads as she was now.

Of course this thought did not please Susan, as once again she did not notice her own protectiveness of the girl in front of her. Susan's thoughts about keeping boys away from Will were interrupted by one of the handmaids speaking to her.

"Lady Vandom, her highness wishes to see you and Miss Will once we're done…shall we take her to the Queens room while you go get changed?" the handmaiden asked pointing out that Susan was still in her pajamas.

Susan looked down and blushed a little at her own sight. "Yes you go on ahead. I'll be there shortly," she said and tried to leave but Will took this as a chance to get even for the pink haired lobster joke.

"Bye Lady PJ" she called after her. It was not the best come back, but it did make the woman give a playful glare in response while the two handmaidens shook their heads smiling as they lead Will to Sade's room.

Once they had reached the Queen's room they opened the double doors leading Will inside to see Queen Sade sitting at a table waiting for her two guests.

"Good morning Will! sleep well?" the Queen greeted as she saw Will enter, then looked at her handmaidens letting them know they could leave.

While the two women closed the door behind them Will bowed to the Queen as she answered, "Yes your highness"

This made Sade smile as she shook her head. "Will what did I tell you yesterday?" she asked making Will look back up at Sade confused.

"You don't need to be formal when we are alone" Sade said getting Will to blush at her forgetfulness, who then noticed Sade get up and start to walk around her as if inspecting her.

After a few minutes of silence while the Queen did her inspection of the half-elf she said "Oh the boys are going to love you I bet…don't you think Susan?" The Queen said getting Will to look around to see that Susan was standing in the door.

Susan was dressed in the same cloths as yesterday but with out the cape or sword and was giving Sade a playful glare "As the one in charge of her care durring her sentence, any and all boys will keep their hands to them selves" she stated with smirk as she noticed Will's face go as red as her hair color.

"I'm not so sure about that," Will said in a quite tone, but Susan's keen elvin hearing picked it up easily. She moved up to Will and firmly but gently gripped the young girl's shoulders.

"Well I am," the full elf said with a kind smile on her face then looked at Sade "Now what did you need to see us about?"

Sade gestured for them to sit down at the table which they did as the Queen spoke, "I just wanted to make sure what Will knew about what is going to happen to her," she explained and sat down herself.

Susan nodded and told Sade what Will had told her so far. Will wondered what else they had to tell her.

"Well it seems there only a few thing left to explain then" Sade said as she looked at Will.

"The first thing you need to know is what your classes are," this made Will mentally kick her self for not asking that as Sade continued "They are Fighter, Sorcerer and…Warlock." The last part shocked Will.

Susan had a feeling Will might be reluctant to train her Warlock powers. But she would have to explain to Will that despite how much people hated Warlocks, the class had powers she would need.

That, and the fact of the matter was that being gifted in classes meant that the power would grow as the other classes did. So if Will neglected her Warlock powers they might become too strong for her to handle with out training in the use of them. This was the reason for the complex training gifted people went through, to keep control over their incredible potential.

"But I think we should leave any further discussion on that subject for later when Susan and you can talk about your training in private." Sade said wanting to get this discussion over with before her final surprise for the young girl got here.

Both Will and Susan nodded at this and Sade moved on to the next topic, taking out a golden colored circlet and a bracelet each having arcane markings inscribed on them. Susan was about to speak when Sade raised a hand as if to ask Susan to let her speak first.

"These are for your forced service sentence Will. you put this on your head," Sade said pointing to the circlet. "And Susan wears the bracelet," she explained. Then with her magic Sade slowly moved the items over to their owners.

"Once you put the circlet on it won't come off until the one wearing the bracelet removes it for you," Sade explained, then pointed to said bracelet. "And only the one who activates the magic of bracelet can remove it from their wrist, in this case Susan." She said. Then signaled so Susan could speak.

"Sade, they are not needed. Will wants to do this, she won't run away." Susan said making Will confused at what was going on, and both women could sense her confusion.

"These are used so you can do what ever work you are given, and not have a guard watching your every move. They prevent the one wearing the circlet from running away by allowing the bracelet wearer to locate the person, teleport to were that person is and if needed, use one of three methods to subdue the runaway." Sade explained to Will.

Will thinking about the last part asked, "What are the three methods?" getting a nervous look from both women, as if asking Will if she really wanted to know. And from the look they got from Will said that she did.

After a moment Sade finally spoke "They each can gain the same result but each is also meant to show how far the person has violated their punishment," she explained and waited a moment to prepare her self for the rest.

"The first method makes the person feel a little ill and weak. Nothing to serious but it provides a good warning to the runaway and slows him or her down." Sade said getting a nod from Will who was thinking that was not so bad. But she had a feeling that the other two were a bit more aggressive.

"The second method makes the person unable to move like a spell called to hold a person, and is used when the first method does not make the runaway stop. Or if the one running might try to hurt any one following him or her, but not to the point of being too dangerous." This method did not seem so bad, but Will thought that it meant the one caught would likely be punished in some way if this method was needed.

"The final method is the harshest of the three, and only meant to be used if the person is proving to be very dangerous, and that is by causing a powerful and painful electric shock to flow through the runaway person's body." Sade said seeing Will push the circlet away, being very afraid of it.

Sade did not know what to say to calm the girl, but it seemed Susan did. "Will, the only reason Sade wants you to wear that circulet is because it is a formality, and that's why I don't think we will need it." The Elf said gently, and it seemed to calm Will a bit.

Susan waited a second before speaking just to Will to let her words sink in. "Now I'll give you a choice. If you don't want to put it on then we won't force you but if you trust me enough to put it on I'll pay half of the 100,000 gold right on the spot."

This shocked Will, both by the price she had to pay and the fact that Susan would pay half of it right here and now too prove she could be trusted not to use the bracelet's most frightening power.

Sade could see Will was a lot more relaxed as she watched Susan reassure the young half-elf that there was nothing to be afraid of.

'Susan you really should have had your chance at mother hood…maybe this is your second chance. If only you would only take it' Sade thought as she smiled at the scene and she noticed Will pick the circlet up.

The Queen watched Will slip it on around her forehead and watched the magic gently lock it in place 'and that shaves another 10,000 off' the Queen thought as she secretly made her own donation to the fund.

Sade would have put more in but she wanted to make sure Will and Susan had plenty of time to train and hopefully heal the wounds they both shared. But she knew that was in the future since Will needed time to form a strong bond with Susan, and Susan needed to acknowledge the attachment she had already gained for Will.

Just then a knock came from the door and it was perfect timing in Sade's mind, seeing as they managed to just wrap every thing up "And that would be breakfast…and the chef had better have brought every thing I ordered him to" the Queen said as she went over to the door.

Will was surprised at the fact the Queen had ordered them all breakfast, while Susan thought she should have guessed this would happen. Why else would Sade want to speak to them first thing after Will's bath.

"The best way to reward a girl for having to go through all those things in the morning is to at least fill her stomach after words" Susan joked, though she knew it was Sade's plan all along.

Sade had smiled as she heard Susan speak and opened the door to see three food carts, each carrying a large plate filled with food. Each one had scrambled egg, sausages, bacon, toast, fruit, and pancakes and to drink there was orange juice.

While it seemed like a bit much, Sade knew Will had to have a large appetite being both a young girl and badly food deprived. So any thing the two women did not eat Will would probably finish off.

This proved true as they began to eat. Will did control her self more then she did last night, but she did eat more quickly then the other two present. By the time they were all done both Sade and Susan could tell Will felt stuffed.

"Susan I get the feeling your cooks are going to need a raise with her around," Sade joked which got Will grumbling. "Is this pick on Will day or something?"

This had Sade confused especially when Susan tried to tell the story while Will was contently putting her hand over Susan mouth to silence it. It had proven to be quit entertaining to watch to say the least.

Eventually Susan's older stronger body defeated Will's desire to keep the story of her new nickname from being told to the Queen as the elf restrained Will and told the story. This caused the Queen to laugh at the thought of Will with pink colored hair and with bright red skin.

By the time they all settled down Sade spoke. "Well I know we planned to leave tomorrow Susan, but I think it would be best to get Will out McDohl's domain and to the lands under your control as soon as possible." Sade said with a bit of a royal tone to it.

Susan knew what this meant. It was Sade's way of being discreet about saying she had a feeling that McDohl would cause trouble the second he had the chance. Susan nodded and asked, "That means the reason your handmaidens left was to pack my belongings, am I correct?"

Sade smiled and nodded yes to her friend's question. "Yes they should be back any minute now and I informed Lord McDohl about our sudden departure yesterday so he will have preparations done by now as well."

Susan had no problem believing that the lord would be ready to get rid of them as soon as possible 'Now he can go back to undermining Sade's authority with out having some one watching over his shoulder,' she thought bitterly.

Two hours later two carriages were ready for them. One was for Sade to head back to the capital of Meridian while the second was for Susan and her 'prisoner'.

Lord McDohl was saying his final good byes to the Queen and give the Lady Vandom any accidents she may need with the Warlock. 'Why her highness does not have it executed I'll never know' the Lord thought with great dislike of the half-elf girl before him, who in his personal opinion was being treated far to kindly.

Susan could tell the lord's displeasure of Will being treated as a person, and made a vow to one day make the man pay dearly. But for now she just helped Will climb into the carriage and focus on how to train the girl in her talents, then worry about the lord.

"Well your highness I wish you and Lady Vandom a safe trip," the lord said with a bow hiding the dark look on his face, thinking to him self 'and I hope the blasted warlock experiences the final measure of the circlet, though the blasted elf most likely won't even use the bracelet at all.'

Sade was the only one replying to the lord's farewell while Susan made sure Will was comfortable, and as she explained a few things. "Just so you know Will, your training is going to be hard both physically and mentally. But once you get used to it you might even enjoy it." Susan explained as she took out the book of stories again.

Will groaned at this making Susan half smile, half scowl at the young girl. "To learn certain things, good reading skills are important." This of course reminded Will of Zerase and made her sad for a moment.

Susan was about ask what was wrong when Will answered, "Zerase scolds me the same way." The young half-elf said as if reading Susan's mind.

Susan placed her hand on Will's shoulder and said "I'll try to be as good a teacher as they were to you," and with that bit of reassurance they felt the carriage start to move away as they started their journey to were Will would one day call home.

--

Okay third one down…not sure how many far to go!


	6. Arrival, Training and Pranks!

Don't own W.I.T.C.H. or D&D

Special thanks to my beta reader Sniper Fodder.

Sorry for taking so long, but hopefully this chapter will be worth the wait.

Chapter 5: Arrival, Training and Pranks!

The trip was only two days but to Susan it had felt a little longer seeing how teaching some one with limited reading skill can be quite hard. But once Will grasped the basics of reading better she was able to read the storybook quite easily.

Although right now Will was wrapped up in a blanket asleep in the seat across from Susan and was resting peacefully, despite there being a few bumps every now and then. 'Guess that means she is in a deep sleep that won't be fun to deal with when we do early morning training' Susan thought to her self as she looked out the window of the carriage.

The lands under Susan's control were vast forests, open plains, and farmlands. Though she was more of a simple peacekeeper with a lot political pull then the actually leader of these lands. Royal Knights did have their say in how things went in the areas under their control, but it was mostly a job to keep the nobles in line then actually run things.

A Royal Knight's lands were actually the lands of other nobles and the knight's job was to handle any problems that popped up. These were to either deal with feuding nobles, dealing with the more major crimes committed against the kingdom, taking care of major threats like the rare Orc, raider's attacks on towns and villages, or the more powerful then normal monsters.

This was why the Royal Knights were a very small and elite group made up of only the most trusted and powerful members of Meridian's people were asked to be members. Many nobles often say that the knights are given too much power due to the fact that they only answer to the members of the royal family. The complaints though tended to be from those who have had the knights get in their way in the past.

Susan knew before long it would take this level of authority to protect Will from those whose blind hatred of her would have them call for her death. 'The gods forbid they let her have some peace in her life' Susan thought sarcastically as she kept looking out the window and noticed the city she called home off in the distance.

The elf felt she had to breathe a sigh of relief knowing Will would want to finally get out of carriage and move around. It made sense, since Will a young girl who was used to being on the move or had something to do most of the time. Sitting in one place for two days with only the same book to read from was probably driving Will crazy.

Though Susan had to admit that at least she knew Will's reading skills were not going to take too much time out of training to control her powers and teaching her to fight. The only thing that worried Susan was how the people that worked in her home would react to Will.

Susan knew that even though it was well known to every one employed in her service that she did not stand for any from of racist acts towards half-elves, it did not mean Will was safe. There was no way Susan could guarantee that one of the servants in her home would make Will's life difficult when she was not with her.

'I'll have to hope that I'm just being paranoid' Susan thought to her self as they were getting closer to the home of the Elvin knight. As they got closer to their destination Susan knew she had to wake the girl in front of her. She knew she would need Will's help to get her new room ready.

Susan gently leaned over and took hold of Will's shoulder to shake her lightly "Will time to wake up we will be working soon" she said getting a drowsy groan from the red headed half-elf. "No more evil book" Will mumbled and pulled the blanket over her head getting a chuckle from Susan.

"Don't worry, it's something else," Susan said as she gripped the blanket and pulled it down to see Will's grumpy face getting another laugh from the pure blooded elf. "I was right. You're not a morning person," Susan said as she had a short tug-a-war for the blanket with Will clearly losing in her drowsy state.

After Susan had pulled the blanket free from Will's grasp, Will had fully awoken though she was still glaring at the woman in front of her. Of course Susan just ignored the glares and looked out the window of the carriage with a smirk on her face and said, "You should have gotten up when I asked".

Being still a little grumpy Will just gave Susan a 'humph' sound as she crossed her arms and pouted which only made Susan smirk grow. "Now you're just being childish," the elder passenger said just wanting to tease the girl a bit more. This only made the young girl turn her head to look out the window to ignore Susan and then noticed the beautiful scenery out side.

"Wow" was all she could say as Will looked out at the vast open plains that surrounded a large city with a fortress like wall surrounding it. In the middle of this well protected city was a white colored castle. To a tomboy like Will she did not see a lot of things as beautiful like most girls did, but in this case even she had it admit a sight like this was breath taking, especially with an early morning sunrise in the back ground.

Susan was watching the gasping girl with an amused smile. "I found it breath taking when I saw it at sunrise for the first time myself" Susan said sitting back as she watched the girl stare at the scene not showing any sign of noticing what the Elvin woman said.

A little later they arrived at the front gates of the city wall, which were closed at the moment. Will looked over to Susan and asked, "When do they open?" confused as to why they were closed when Susan was trying to enter her own city.

Susan just held up her hand and started raising one finger at time saying "5, 4, 3, 2, 1...Now" With the last part spoken Will heard the gates open, revealing the city within. The young half-elf looked back at Susan who had another amused smirk on her face "Done this enough times you know how long it take for them to get every thing ready down to the very second" she explained.

The carriage then started to move again and was heading down the main road that lead to the castle. Will looked the window to see the streets were not busy yet, due to it still being early but there were places such as bakeries and other such stores that were getting ready for the day.

Will could guess that in a few hours the market would be even more hectic then the one in Trader's Central seeing how this place was much larger. She had to admit this place was much more beautiful then the trader town, the buildings being more artistic and had trees and small flower beds to add to it's beauty.

Though Will did not know what this city's name was, she guessed it was either a city to begin with or they had longer to develop this place into the way it was now. Will thoughts were interrupted by Susan's voice. "Still mad at me for waking you?" the Elvin woman asked with a grin on her face as she watched the girl stare out at the city in amazement.

Will using Roy's favorite come back of sticking her tongue out at Susan only made the elf shake her head at her student's antics. Fifteen minutes later they arrived at the castle were Susan lived and both were greeted by four servants and two guards.

When Will saw the guards she wanted to run but Susan had placed her hand on the young half-elf's shoulder "Don't worry those two are part of those under my command and they know how I feel about your kind being mistreated" she assured the nervous girl.

As the group of six came closer they were confused at Will presence especially when they saw the circlet around her head. One of the servants stepped forward "I'm sorry my lady we did not get word you had a…is she a prisoner or guest?" the confused servant asked.

Susan looked at the group and said with bit of authority just to be safe "This is Will. She will be staying her during her forced service. So I expect you and all others working in my home to treat her as one of the staff. I also expect any act of hatred toward her race or powers to be brought to my attention immediately do I make my self clear?" this had had made the six present more confused but they nodded yes to the commands.

Susan knew that the second she mentioned powers the staff would have rumors going through them with in the hour, but she wanted to get the cat out of the bag as soon as possible. She wanted to weed out as many of Will possible haters as quickly as she could. Will would only be around trust worthy co-workers.

Will on the other hand wanted to know why Susan had hinted at her warlock abilities, but kept her questions to her self. 'If she hated me she would not have been this kind to me so far…right?' Will thought to herself nervously. These thoughts were ended by Susan who started to order the servants to bring all the bags into the castle and leave them in her room for now.

Susan did not have much being a light packer but the servants had a bit to bring in seeing how Sade had made sure that Will did not need to go clothes shopping any time soon. The queen had gotten more then just the tunic, pants, and boots Will wore right now but also more of the same clothing as well as few dresses for when Will needed more girlish clothing.

Of course being a tomboy Will did not like skirts or dresses when she found out, but Susan explained that they were meant for more formal occasions. Of course Susan said she would try to keep Will away from things like that as much as possible but it was better to be safe then sorry.

While the servants started to unload the bags, Susan took Will into the castle followed by the two guards. Once inside Will's mouth dropped open a bit at the sight of the interior. The floor was made of marble that was a golden color, with long red carpet that lead to a large staircase. The walls were white like the out side of the castle with a few pictures of people or places along them. All the while Susan continued to enjoy watching Will's awed expressions at such things. "Lets get moving Will we have got a bit of work to do before we can get breakfast" Susan said and started moving again with Will following close behind.

The two guards still followed them as well waiting for their Lady's orders until out curiosity one asked "Lady Vandom, what did you mean by hatred of her power?" getting the group to stop as Susan turned around to look at the man.

Will stared at Susan with begging eyes not wanting her to answer, which Susan noticed, but gave her an apologetic smile know this could not be avoided. "She has been tested and confirmed to a be Warlock by birth. weather it was one of her parents or an ancestor is still unknown," Susan stated and noticed Will look at her with a betrayed look on her face.

The two guards looked at Will then back at their lady noticing this problem so the other spoke "Are we to keep this quite or spread the word among the rest of guards to watch for any misconduct from the rest of staff or populace?" This got Will to now give the begging look at the guards who also smiled sadly at the half-elf.

Susan was glad the at least two guards knew their duty and her feelings about both warlocks and half-elves, so perhaps Will wouldn't have too much trouble after all. "Yes make sure every one with in the castle knows I know. It will most likely spread news into the city but it can't be helped. I would rather be able to train Will to control her powers with out having to hide her away like something that is to be ashamed of." The Royal Knight explained getting a salute from the two guards and a shocked look from Will.

"We will get to work then Lady Vandom and make sure all guards are to keep a close look out…shall we implement the former regulations or do you have new ones?" the first guard asked, which this was going to be a touchy subject.

Susan had a sad and distant look on her face as she thought it over while Will tried to figure out what they meant by former regulations. After a few moments Susan spoke again "Yes all former regulations are to be put in place. Make sure any violators are punished accordingly" she instructed getting one final salute from the guards as they moved on spreading the news and orders.

Will was still looking very confused and shocked at what just happened, but Susan had taken Will by the hand leading her further into the castle. Susan knew she would have some explaining to do but it could wait until they reached their destination.

The rest of the walk was silent and the only thing that kept repeating in Will's mind was the last thing Susan had told the guards, about not wanting to hide her like she was something to be ashamed of. 'But wouldn't it be easier to hide my existence? I'm supposed to be someone to be ashamed of...aren't I?' Will thought to her self, as she was lead up to one of the higher floors of the castle.

When they finally stopped at the door Will wondered what was inside until Susan turned the knob and revealed a rather simple looking room.

The rug near the bed at one end of the room was forest green, as was the blanket that covered the large bed. There were a pair of windows that were like doors straight ahead of them that lead to larger then normal balcony. Out on the balcony were a few things that looked like training devises which made sense, since Will knew Susan got up early to train. On other end the room was a dresser and large desk. But the thing that caught Will's eyes was a door off in the corner.

This door especially drew Will's attention as Susan led Will into the room heading straight for the other door. Will thought it might have been a closet, but found it strange it had a lock on it. Susan took out a key and after unlocking it made it swing open to reveal another room.

This room was a lot more messy then the one behind them and was filled with a book shelf, though most of the books were scattered all over the place on either the table in the middle of the room or on the floor as well as papers scattered all over the place.

One bookshelf stood out though because it had a cage like door on it with a lock making it seem like it had important books in it maybe. Susan then spoke, snapping Will out of her train of thought "This will be your room once we get it cleaned up a bit and get a bed in here" she explained and took Will over to the table in the center of the room.

"I'll help sense you are probably not familiar on how to sort the books, and it would take you awhile by your self any way. You go gather all the papers for now while I deal with the books" Susan explained as she started to stack a few books on the table into a pile.

Will noded her head and went to gather the discarded papers and noticed they have all sorts of notes on them, though she could understand them one bit. It took three hours for the two to finish the clean up but now that it was done the two were sitting down at the table to rest.

A few minutes later some food was brought in for them as well as a small bed and a dresser by several servants, though to Susan displeasure some of them kept a close eye on Will. 'I guess it's to be expected but it's still disappointing to see people who know my views act like this' Susan thought to her self taking a mental note on possible problem people.

Once all the servants were gone the two started eating. Susan noted that Will had been to tired from the work and focused on the food to notice the looks from some of the servants.

'Ignorance may help her for now but her training will make her more aware of her surroundings. That will put a lot of strain on her once she is constantly aware of those who fear or hate her. The hate may be something she is used to, but fear... I don't know how she will react to it' Susan thought getting worried about how Will would react to this development.

Susan tried to focus on her meal to keep her mind off of things but her thoughts were making her loose her appetite. Susan looked up from her plate to see Will was almost done "Not very hungry are you?" Susan teased the girl so help brighten her own mood.

This got Will glaring at Susan or at least until the older woman traded plates with her "You not hungry Susan?" the half elf asked confused at the elf's action.

Susan noded her head and answered, "Ya, I guess I'm still more tired then hungry because of the long trip…after your done why don't you take a nap your self. It will help get us ready for a little training this afternoon" the Elvin woman suggested.

Will stared at Susan confused "Are we doing the dancing stuff again?" she asked getting a playful glare from Susan "It is not dancing. It's martial arts or do you need to get tossed again for me to prove it?" the elf said trying to give the young half-elf a playful swat on the head while said half-elf ducked the swing.

Later after Susan was done teasing Will, she had left the half-elf to finish her meal. Will decided to take Susan's advice and take nap. Though her sleep was not as peaceful as the ones she had recently. This time nightmares from her past haunted her dreams.

Will was surrounded by darkness unable to see anything. The darkness scared Will but not a much as the voice that was yelling at her from it. "Stupid Half-Breed! You think any one cares for you?! Just wait! Eventually the elf will treat you like the worthless trash that you are!"

Will was on her knees begging for the voice to stop. Her fear was so strong she did not know to just wake up from the dream and escape the voice she had not heard since she five years old.

In the waking world Susan had finished her meditation/nap and was trying to figure out the best training program for her young charge when she heard something from the next room. 'What is she doing in there?' Susan thought to her self as she went over to the door to Will's new room.

Once she entered Susan saw Will thrashing about in her sleep. Susan quickly went over to the bed started to shake the girl while saying "Will wake up!"

This made Will shoot upwards in a sitting position drenched in a cold sweat panting heavily. Susan sat next to Will and started to rub her back to help calm the young half-elf while asking, "Bad dream?"

Will finally looked at Susan after she had recovered from the shock of waking up from her nightmare. Will managed to answer Susan's question with a small nod, not trusting her voice to work. 'I hope it stays that way…why is my father's voice in my nightmares again?' Will thought to her self.

Susan could tell that what ever the dream was, had really shaken Will so she thought maybe a little exercise would help get the young girl's mind off her troubles. She gently took Will's hand and pulled slightly to signal Will to come with her.

Susan then lead Will out onto the balcony from earlier. Susan let go of Will's hand and went over to the stand holding what looked like wooden practice swords and grabbed two. Susan tossed one over to Will who caught it a bit clumsily while the elvin woman said, "Why don't we start that training session I promised earlier. It might help clear your mind if you focus on something else for while"

This made Will a little nervous seeing as how she was about to have a lesson from some one who was most likely one of best sword masters in the kingdom. 'Why can't we do that martial arts stuff from before?' Will thought to her self as Susan started to speak.

"We will start things off like I did when I showed those stances of the Dancing Leaf style. So just copy me like last time and you will do fine" Susan assured Will, knowing it may seem to strange to learn new types of skills so soon after only starting martial arts a few days ago.

The reason for teaching Will swordsmanship so soon was because Dancing Leaf was one part of Susan's sword style. Soaring Blade while basic sword training made another part.

Dancing Leaf was based on speed, agility, and flexibility. Basic sword training combined with physical conditioning helped build up strength, endurance and stamina.

The final part that made up Soaring Blade was analyzing and predicting enemies by watching and predicting movements as well as locating potential weaknesses they had. This part was difficult to learn but could be done by playing games of strategy and by simply gaining experience by sparring with a lot of different people.

This made Soaring Blade a very flexible style because of this, and was favored by those who preferred to have both a strong offense and defense. But Susan did not explain all this to Will just yet. She knew that the best way to get Will to grasp the basics of this complex style was to have her learn them with out knowing what she was doing.

'The process worked on me when I did not think I could ever learn Soaring Blade so it might help Will. And if it doesn't then her physical abilities will be greatly increased anyway' Susan thought to herself as she got into the first stance.

Susan instructed Will on how to perform simple downward slashes. Susan explained it was important to ingrain the right method into her student's mind so that it would come naturally when used in a real fight.

For the whole afternoon Susan had Will practiced basic sword attacks as well as getting in some more practice with Dancing Leaf, learning stances and katas. Through out all of this Will was ignorant of what she was really being taught and what she would have to face tomorrow.

By the time they stopped it was mid sunset and Will's body was sore all over, but Susan not finished with her student yet. "Now we are going give your mind a work out" Susan said and smiled at the loud groan from of her student.

Will followed her teacher grumbling at the fact that the torture was going to continue and noticed Susan was taking a board off her desk. This made Will thank every god she knew of that it was not another book then noticed Susan taking a wooden box out of the drawer.

Will was trying to figure out how these were going to train her mind as Susan lead Will back into her room and set the board down on the table. Will sat in one of chairs while Susan opened the wooden box and took out some black and white objects.

Susan placed the whites pieces closest to her self and put the black pieces closer to Will's side of the board then said, "This is a game called chess and it will teach you something you need to know if you plan on making use of your magic or fighting skills"

Will did not how this was going help improve ether of those areas until Susan continued "Chess is a game of strategy and, knowing when to use what move and at the right time is critical. It's does not matter if it's moving a game piece, using the right spell, or striking an enemy at the right time and with the right technique with your weapon"

This did make sense once Will heard it explained like that, but she still did not see how this was going to teach her all that. But for now she just listened on how to play the game and how the pieces moved. Once that was done the first of many games began.

It was quite clear Will had no chance, being only a beginner against some who has had many years of experience, and Will's growing frustration was not helping her. After three hours of playing she had lost track of how many times she lost to Susan who had finally put an end to the game for the evening.

"Don't worry Will. Once you learn some of the finer point of the game you'll do fine. They are just the things you need to learn from experience" Susan reassured the young girl as she put the pieces away.

As Susan turned to head back to her own room she said "Tomorrow's training will begin first thing in the morning so try to rest up okay" though Susan's only received response was a groan as the worn out girl dragged her-self over to the bed.

Susan only chuckled at Will's antic knowing most new to such heavy training responded the same way. The Elvin woman left her young student to get some sleep hopping the training wore Will out enough to get a good nights rest.

Luck was on their side because the only thing that woke Will up was Susan using a spell to create water and drop a bucket's worth of water on to the slumbering half-elf. "Aaaaahhhh!" Will screamed from the sudden dowsing of cold water.

She shot her teacher a weak glare due to her tired state that the Elvin woman just ignored as she handed Will a shirt made out of chains. "Welcome to Gifted boot camp Will. Yesterday was the warm up. The real training starts now so put the chain shirt on and we will get moving" Susan instructed.

Will just stared at the elf "Why would any one wear a shirt made of out chains?" she asked getting the Elvin woman to roll her eyes.

"It's the strongest of any other light armor so you need to get used to moving with it, so put it on" Susan explained as she helped Will slip the armor on. Though the one thing Susan did not mention was that this chain shirt was about 5 pounds heavier then a normal chain shirt for Will's size. This was to help Will build up her strength thought five pounds was not going to make a huge difference it still helped a bit.

Will of course found it difficult to move in the heavy chain mail that covered most of her upper body. "How can any one call this light armor?!" Will said as she almost fell over when she tried to stand up and move.

Susan just laughed as Will stumbled around trying to get used to the new weight. "You'll get used to it. Now we are off" Susan said placing her hand on Will's shoulder to teleport them to the rampart of the city walls.

Will looked confused to why they were here until Susan spoke "Start jogging." This got the elf a look of horror as Will screamed as she pointed to the chain shirt "In this thing!?"

This got a nod from a smirking Susan and she pointed off in the distance "Yes and your doing three miles of the city wall before breakfast so get moving if you want to eat" she told Will.

Will started moving with Susan following close behind. They had passed several guard stations along the city wall with guards waving hi to Susan and few playful jokes at Will expense.

One of Susan's favorites was when one them decided to make up a story that eventually Will would be doing several laps around the whole wall. This of course was a lie because even Susan would be worn out by doing one full lap around the city wall seeing how big this city was.

By the time Will had done her three miles she felt like she was going to die as she collapse into a the chair of the guard station they stopped at and was giving Susan another death glare. "You…are…insane!" she managed to growl out between her panting.

This has two guards present laughing so hard at Will's declaration they nearly fell over. Susan just rolled her eyes but had a huge smirk on her face as she said "The fun has only just begun"

This made Will go pale white as Susan teleported them back to the castle for a breakfast of oatmeal, bread, and fruit. Will practically attacked the food as she ate startling some the servants at the speed but had Susan laughing.

Susan would never tell Will this but as child she did the same thing after her own training. The life of a gifted was never easy, especially those with a warrior based class. 'Good thing the sorcerer and warlock training will be easier then she probably thinks they will be' Susan thought to her self as she watched her young pupil devour her third helping of oatmeal.

Once breakfast was done Susan took her back to the training spot and taught Will the few things she needed to know about how to use her magic. Sorcery was actually much simpler then people thought. Most assumed it was complicated because of hearing of how hard wizards had to study for their spells. So many thought sorcery would be the same way.

In reality all sorcerer, or in this case sorceress, just needed to read or be shown a spell, then practice the spell it self. Once some one of the sorcerer class casts a completely successful version of the spell they gained something like permanent memory for that spell and could use it whenever they wished. This was different then a wizard who had to always study spells to keep the information fresh in their minds.

Of course for this to happen the student needed basic mastery of the spell first, which was why Susan was helping Will with them right now. First Susan had helped Will perfect the flare spell she had used when her magic first awakened. Susan also helped Will learn some other low level spells as well.

These spells were light, arcane mark, prestidigitation, true strike and shocking grasp. Light obviously worked exactly how it was called providing a source of light when ever needed.

Arcane Mark was something magic users used as something to place a personal symbol on personal items or in some cases legal documents. Arcane Mark was used for this because it's difficult for even skilled forgers to duplicate an arcane mark giving the caster a little extra security.

Prestidigitation had exact use too. It was mostly used for young casters to practice or entertain people. This was because it could do only little things like move objects of at most one pound in weight. It could color, clean, or dirty objects as well as warm, cool or flavor things. The final minor trick the spell could do was create small objects though they were crude and fragile. For the most part unless your entertaining people for a living or were trying to relieve boredom it was not a spell used often by veteran casters.

These spells were called zero grade spells or 'cantrips' and were the weakest of all the spells. There are 10 grades of spells, zero being the lowest and nine being the highest. The final two spells Susan taught Will were first grade spells that at this point in Will's development were the strongest she could cast.

True strike was a spell that for a single attack allowed the caster to have greater odds of hitting a target. This was a very useful spell for Will because she would be able to combine this spell with her sword attacks and almost no chance of missing.

The final spell, shocking grasp, was just as the name said. It sent a powerful electric attack into who ever the caster was touching. This was the strongest of all the grade one spells but it was also one of the most dangerous spells for most new magic users.

Normally new magic users learned shocking grasp later because it required to get into range of melee attacks. This was something most magic users were not able to handle because most low level magic users lacked the skill to defend against melee attacks. Most prefered long range spells at first.

But Will was a gifted after all and would not have this weakness, so she had more freedom to choose such close range spells sooner. Though Susan did encourage her young student to be careful about using it though. "Just because you have better odds of using it successfully does not mean you should use the spell to often. It can leave an enemy an opening to hit you while your casting it" she had instructed.

After they were done with the sorcery lesson it was time for the one Will hopped they would not do. She did not want to learn to use her warlock powers but Susan had been quite insistent about it, warning Will that her supernatural magic would grow weather she used it or not. Once it grew to a certain point, if Will did not have proper control of it, the energy might send small but destructive bursts like when she punched that guard.

Will had reluctantly agreed to learn how to control her powers after hearing this. Susan had expected this reluctance but she knew Will needed to learn how to use her eldritch blasts and invocations.

It took a while to help Will to summon the power. This was because warlock power was controlled by ones will and since Will was still some what reluctant it made it hard for to force it to do anything.

Once Susan had helped Will get a general idea on how to summon the power, she told her student to focus it into her hand. Will did as she was asked and focused the power slowly making her hand glow with purple energy.

Will looked at Susan, her eyes were asking the silent question of what to do next. Susan then instructed Will to point her hand out into the horizon and will the power to fire out of her hand as a blast of energy.

It took Will a few tries to make the blast fire out and when she did it did not fire straight. It instead curved back and forth in a random way signaling it was not being properly controlled. "Will you can't be afraid of it. I know your scared of your power, but just because it comes from a dark source does not mean you need to be scared of it" Susan said hopping Will would realize no matter were it come from the power was hers and hers alone. She was not going to turn into an evil force of destruction by using her warlock abilities.

Will nodded her head nervously but noted that Susan stressed the power was hers and not a demon's power. 'But if it gave my family a small bit of its power how come that means I'm not tainted?' Will thought to her self but thought back to something Susan explained to her about magic durring the trip here in the carriage.

Susan had told her that the origins of warlock power were in a sense no different then that of a sorcerer's. Dragons were one of several ways sorcerers came into being. Dragons in a way created sorcerers by mating with humans, elves, and others races and down the line those who descended from that union created sorcerers.

Though this being different from creature infusing power into mortals to give them warlock magic, the basic idea was the same. Susan had explained that if Will was a demon, she was a dragon as well and pointed out she did not see any scales or claws on her.

This did make Will feel a little better and better able to focus on controlling her supernatural magic as she thought over and over in her mind 'I am no more demon then I am a dragon'

When she fired the blast it shot straight like an arrow but this time it was a different color then before, a pinkish red instead of dark purple. Will looked at Susan confused at the sudden change.

Susan sensed the question and answered with a proud smile on her face "That would be the sign of you starting to gain control over your power. Before you where just using the dark energy and not seeing it as your own, but a demon's power. You see reason warlock magic is called supernatural power is because it come from your very soul. Once you accepted the power as apart of you the dark energy and your soul's energy worked in harmony and mixed together changing its color" Susan explained.

This made Will a little nervous again seeing how old habits died hard, but Susan assured Will nothing bad was going to happen just because the two energies mixed. After that Susan helped Will learn her first invocation but first gave Will a quick lesson about invocations.

Like spells, invocations came in levels of strength, of which there was least, lesser, greater and dark. They were also further separated into three types of invocations. These were essence, shape and other.

The essence type was to add effects to an eldritch blast like make enemies feel ill or cause them to feel fear when hit by a blast.

The shape type made a blast have greater range or effect a larger area.

Other was the type of invocation to cause varies effects such as like mimic the effects certain arcane spells or increase their abilities.

The invocation Susan suggested was called hideous blow, which allowed a warlock to channel the power their eldritch blast into a melee attack. Susan suggested it for two reasons, the first being that Will did a crude version of it when she punched the guard. The second reason was it also gave Will a little extra power for her attacks.

Performing the invocation was a simple matter of making the supernatural magic flow into and around what ever weapon you were holding, be it a fist weapon or a sword. Susan had Will practice this invocation along with her sword training to get the hang of doing both at the same time.

Each swing and thrust was for a few seconds covered in pinkish red energy and slowly through out the long training session Will gained basic control of her power. Will still was far from proficient with any of her classes but now she was starting to get a solid foundation by the end of the day.

By the time Will was sent off to bed that night she was worn out both in body and in mind, but one thing brightened her mood. She was still a bit ticked at having to wear the chain shirt all day thought she was starting to get used to but she still wanted pay back.

Fortunately today's training had given her the means to do it. If she could wake up early enough then she would have a little surprise for teacher. Will fell a sleep as she thought up her plan not knowing fateseemed be on her side. Susan had decided to go to sleep later that night do some late training of her own and even her four trance would not save her from Will's little scheme.

The next morning Susan came out of her sleep like trance not knowing of what her student had done early that morning but she was soon going to find out. Susan had opened up her night stand to pull out a brush and a mirror to brush her hair before waking Will only to see a shocking sight.

Her normally black hair was now a bright shade of pink and her face was an equally bright red. Will had used the prestidigitation spell she had learned yesterday to make these changed remembering the pinked headed lobster jokes from several days ago. Will had wanted to get even for those and thought the irony was perfect.

It took Susan a few minutes to realize who the culprit was and now advancing toward the door of her student's room. 'Oh you are going to get it young lady' Susan growled in her mind as opened door to see Will pretending to read a book waiting for Susan's grand entrance.

Will looked up at Susan innocently and said "Morning teach…something seems different about you today but I can't seem to put my finger on it" she said with sweet yet triumphant tone of voice.

Feeling of victory was quickly ended as she saw Susan moving toward her with a look that brought fear into the half-elf as she grabbed Will's shoulders and quickly pulled her to her feet.

Five minutes later Will was doing the jog in the chain shirt like the day before but with two 'minor' changes. She was running in her under wear and was given 10 miles to run. Susan who had returned her hair and face too normal and was following close behind make sure Will kept moving.

"Let this be a lesson to you! I don't get mad I get even!" Susan said smugly as she nudged Will to go faster. Will on the other hand made silent vows to be careful the next time she tried to prank the pure blooded elf. If she lived through her punishment to be a next time that is.

---

And we end on that (hopefully) humors note. Next chapter will bring in the the team and might have actual action as well.


	7. New People and Friends, But Same Fears

Disclaimer: Don't own W.I.T.C.H. or D&D

Once again thanking Sniper Fodder for all his hard work at editing my chapters.

Chapter 6: New People and Friends, But Same Fears

It had been a month since Will had come to live with and train under Susan Vandom. Though Susan every so often gave Will small jobs to do so as to keep up the appearance of having Will carry out her forced service sentence.

These were often things like cleaning Susan room, fetching things for Susan or delivering messages around the castle. For the most part she had become Susan's go to girl but it that was a given seeing how Will was only twelve. Susan could have had Will run errands into city but the Royal Knight was reluctant to send Will into the city alone.

This was because the news had quickly flowed down the grape vine about Will's presence and several nobles and other high-class citizens had lodged complaints about it. Many still remembered what happened when the last warlock lived in the city and said Will was just as big a threat.

The topic about the previous warlock was a sore subject for Susan and verbally attacking Will did not make Susan any happier. So Susan did the only she could do, she made it clear the old laws from twelve year ago were back in place and any attempt to drive Will out would not be tolerated.

This did not go over well with those who complained that Will would bring disaster but the word of a Royal Knight could only countered by Queen Sade her self. Many had found out the Queen had placed the new warlock under Lady Vandom care so they gave up knowing there was nothing they could do.

Though Susan made a point to not bring any of this news up with Will, not wanting to upset her half-elf student. Susan didn't want Will to worry about the stuck up people so she decide to keep it a secret for now.

On the plus side Will was doing well in her training and was advancing steadily in both in her physical training, and in her studies. Though calling them lessons on teaching her to read, writing and basic addition and subtraction studies may be a bit off.

Susan said she would give Will a basic education and she meant it. Most people only needed these most basic skills and they were set for life. Nobility were the ones who needed to study history, advanced mathematics, art, culture and other such things, though Susan did encourage Will to read a history book every so often.

Susan knew there was no such thing as useless knowledge but she could tell Will did not like being forced to sit down and study something. Will was the type who was suited to hands on learning where you showed her what to do and she learned by watching and doing. Susan knew that if she taught Will like she was in a classroom it would only make Will go insane, and this was proven during writing and math lessons.

Will always fidgeted and it took all her will power to keep focused on doing the work she was given. Susan just made sure Will finished her assigned work then suggested other subjects she might want to study in her free time.

Will did try to read books about monsters and other creatures as well as study magic from some of the more simple magic guides. She did study a bit of history, though mostly about legends, myths, and her own classes. But it did get Will studying useful information as a result as well.

Over all Susan was pleased by Will's progress seeing how she was dealing with a major handicap because of being neglected for so long by most people.

The only problem Susan had with her student was how Will kept using prestidigitation to play jokes on her. Though nothing as bold as when Will changed her hair and face color, but still pulling minor pranks from time to time.

Though only mild things such moving a fork out of Susan's reach or making her tea go cold, it was still a bit annoying. Though it did wonders for Will's stamina because of all the extra running she had the half-elf doing.

Right now though Susan had shoed Will off to her room to have some personal time to give her young student a break. It seemed that unless she was pulling pranks she would either be doing training on her own or reading one of the many books that were in her room.

This was not a bad thing per say but it would not help Will's devolvement as a person to have only social contact with only one person. The servants did not show any harsh behavior to the young half-elf but they did keep their distance.

Susan knew it was because of Will's warlock abilities that they kept Will at arms length. The ones who would have hated Will had ether quite or were dismissed long ago but the ones that remained were mostly were still nervous because of the…incident twelve years ago. It did not help that Will did the same out of fear of being hurt with the exception of Susan of course.

"That man had the trust and respect of most of this kingdom and he turned his back on them and me for promises of power. Now Will seems to be paying the price," Susan growled under breath as she tried to enjoy a quite moment after dealing with another noble lodging a complaint about Will being trained.

Susan did not know what to do though. She was too worried about Will to relax. It would help if she knew Will could rely on some other people then her self, but who? Then a thought struck her "They are supposed to be coming in a week for our usual monthly get together. I forgot about that," Susan whispered to her self.

This would be perfect. Will might have a chance to make some friends and have social contact with different people. If this went well enough maybe Will would come out of her shell a bit more.

For the rest of the week Susan had added small lessons in manors. Nothing complex, just things Will would have learned if she had been either accepted for who she was, or full human or elf. The little get together with the people coming would be a simple one so there was no need to teach Will much of anything that she had not already tried to imitate from Susan.

Every time Will asked why the sudden addition to the lessons, Susan would tell her she would find out at the end of the week. Susan did not want Will to get nervous about meeting new people, so she kept it a secret to Will's annoyance.

When the day finally came Susan told her young pupil that training was canceled for the day, but said if she wanted Will could do some light exercises to keep her-self busy. Susan explained that the surprise would be revealed this afternoon and asked Will to be patient a little longer.

Will made sure to keep her training light like Susan asked, by only doing the new katas she had been taught. She had finally been told why Susan was teaching her two fighting styles at once and was now learning a small bit of Soaring Dance.

Will was not yet ready to use the style yet because she only was starting to combine the Dancing Leaf and basic sword training, but she could at least have a spar with Susan now. Will knew Susan held back much of her real skill when they practiced but Will did not care. It felt good to be able to put the skills she was learning to use.

Will was so focused on trying to smoothly combine both speed and power she lost track of time. The next thing she knew she heard something down in the courtyard below and went to look. Will saw two carriages pulling up to the front of the castle entrance and noticed both had the same emblem that was on some of Susan's clothing.

Unnoticed by the confused girl Susan came up behind her and said, "Looks like the surprise is here" this of course startled Will at the sudden noise. Once Will recovered from her sudden scare she asked "What do you mean?" still trying to figure out how this was the surprise.

Susan just smiled knowingly and signaled Will to follow her. Susan leads Will to the entrance of the castle where several people had already gathered.

Will looked at all the new comers, though first to get her attention was actually the familiar face of Queen Sade who had noticed her and Susan coming towards them. The Queen wasted no time heading over to the pair and pulled Will into a friendly hug.

"Will it's good to see you again. How has the slave driver been treating you?" Sade asked with smile as she greeted Will and teased Susan.

Susan had ignored Sade's joke but she did swat Will on the back of the head for joking that's she was being worked until she collapsed.

Sade giggled at the two but thought it best to introduce Will to the rest of the guests, so she and Susan lead Will over to the rest of the group.

The first person Sade introduced Will to was a woman named Abele Russell or also known as The Mage. She was a woman with long pink hair and green eyes and she wore the robes of a sorcerers that were dark brown in color. On her shoulder was a raven that Will guessed was the woman's familiar.

"Ah so this is the trouble maker you have taken in Susan. Sade told me about what happened… makes me wonder why we have not dealt with the man yet," Mage said in a tone that made it clear she liked the man about as much as Susan and Sade did.

Will was slightly intimidated by the one called Mage. She had a presences that was so powerful it almost over whelmed her. Susan placed her hand on Will's shoulders and said "Abele you mind toning down your magic aura? Your scaring Will" Susan asked making Will blush from embarrassment.

Sade giggled, as the one known as the all-powerful Mage also blushed at her carelessness. "I apologize. I often forget I don't live in solitude any more so I tend to forget to keep my presence suppressed" Abele apologized. She was a protector of several objects of great power and made a habit of keeping her magic aura active to scare thieves away. The down side was she had only begun to have normal contact with people once again since she had married her husband, and was still re-learning to hide her aura to avoid these little events.

Will timidly nodded and she accepted the apology. Then Susan leads Will over to a group of five girls and an old woman. Susan scanned the group and chose the next one to introduce Will to.

Susan picked a mini-version of Sade in a robe like green dress with an amulet of the sun god Pelor around her neck. In her hand was a white staff like the kind a wizard or sorcerer would use. "Will this is Elyon. She is Sade's daughter…Will you don't need to do that," Susan said as Will started bowing to the princess of Meridian.

Every one in the room giggled at the sight though one of the girls spoke up "Sade looks like it's time for you to retire. Your daughter gets more respect then you do" this made Will look to the one who spoke.

The girl had short brown hair and blue eyes. Her clothing was like Will's except her tunic was blue and her pants were brown. Will also noticed the girl was also wearing a chain shirt over her tunic like Will did during her training. The thing that really caught Will's eye was the double-bladed sword on the girl's back. A double-bladed sword was similar to staves. They just had had a sword blade on each end. On her left shoulder were there was some thick leather strapped to it sat a red tailed hawk. This made Will think she was a Ranger because of the hawk, armor and weapon.

Susan then spoke as Sade glared at the wise cracker playfully "The smart mouth is Irma Lair and she always makes wise cracks. You'll hopefully get used to it" Susan said getting a tongue stuck out at her.

Susan ignored the childish action and moved onto a girl with dark brown skin and short black hair wearing glasses. Her dark red and orange robes screamed wizard as did the plane wooden staff she held in her hand, and the white owl on her shoulder. "This is Taranee Cook, one of the smartest but shyest girls I've ever met," this had the girl known as Taranee wave timidly at Will as Susan moved on.

The next person was a young Asian girl with long black hair that was done into twin ponytails. Her bright yellow and green robes hugged her body closer then normal. Usually this was the style for very agile magic users or who had rogue training. Under the robe was a chain shirt and at her sides were two daggers. A white and orange cat was at the girl's feet, confirming she was a magic user of some kind.

"This is Hay Lin, a very…energetic girl. You'll probably need all you stamina to just keep up with her" Susan said teasing the girl who was now protesting with a load "HEY!"

This had both the half and full-blooded elf covering their ears due to their more sensitive hearing then Susan added, "I forgot to mention loud." This had the girl about to protest again but an old woman clamped her hand over the girl's mouth.

The old woman wore a simple green robe and had her surprisingly still black hair done up in a bun. "Thank you Yan Lin, your granddaughter is as fiery as ever I see," Susan thanked her getting a chuckle from the old woman.

Susan the moved on to the last girl present, one with long golden hair and blue eyes and was dressed in a dark green druid's robe. She has a scimitar on one side and a dagger on the other. There was also a large white tiger behind her, and this made Will back off a bit in fear.

Susan stopped her young student as she giggled at the young girl's common reaction to the white tiger "Don't worry, Cornelia Hale's animal companion is perfectly harmless and isn't that right Snowflake?" Susan said to the big cat that just stared at the Elf.

'The big white cat with daggers for teeth and claws is called Snowflake?' Will thought to her self as the one called Cornelia spoke "Don't worry. She's only dangerous if ordered... or I get attacked. At any other time she's just a big house cat," the way the girl spoke made Will think Cornelia could be the daughter of a noble as well as a druid, since she looked more well kept then a normally druid would be.

Will then heard Susan speaking again "All right, just so you girls know, Will has taken over your old club room so you'll need to ask her if you can use it tonight before your trip." This had Will confused at how she took over any thing.

Sade seeing this spoke "What, she likes to read lot Susan?" the queen asked which her friend answered "A little but it's more of the fact it's her room now instead of a study." Susan explained.

The three other adults in room looked at Susan as if asking why. "I have my reasons" was all she said.

Will on the other hand was trying keep her self calm as the other five girl were staring at her until Irma asked "So can we stay there tonight?" this had Taranee turn to her and say "Irma! It's her room! She probably wants to keep her privacy at just that, private!"

Will was not sure what to do and went over to Susan and asked, "If they stay in my room were should I sleep?" Will did not want to keep a room that the other girls used anyways so she just thought she could get out of their way for the night.

This of course was easy for Susan to answers "In the same room, it is a sleep over after all." The elf said in matter of fact tone with a smile on her face. This was part of her plan to get Will to open up. She knew Will would offer her room to the other girls so the best thing to do was get her to stay with them and hopefully make some friends.

Will was shocked and bit scared at the idea. She was not used to being around most people and was even more nervous now that she was a warlock. Though she accepted the fact that she was a warlock, she still feared people would hurt her for being one along with being a half-elf.

Though from what she could tell, no one seemed mad at her for her heritage as a half-elf, though she did not want to find out how they would feel about her being a warlock. Will knew Sade did not care but did the princess feel the same as her mother? 'Does she already know?' Will thought to her self.

Susan seeing the emotions going across Will's face bent down and whispered into the half-elf's ear "Every thing will be fine from what Sade's letter said a few days ago. None of them know of your abilities yet…it's up to you if you tell them but I think you should trust them" she said and it seemed to give Will some confidence back.

Though Susan knew it was mostly because the girls did not know of her powers yet but it was a start. 'Will I do think you should trust them…maybe the little trip they have planned might help build that trust' the elvin woman thought to her self as she watched Will lead the group up to their shared room.

Sade came up from behind her friend as asked "She is still scared?" only getting a nod as a response.

Abele put her hand on her hips and stated "If they don't accepted her fro something that is out of her control then it's their loss, not hers…though I think at least Elyon would have no problem with it seeing as how she is your daughter Sade," the powerful sorceress said to her Queen.

Sade nodded as she spoke "Yes she knows better then to judge some one by anything other then their actions. I think the only one we should worry about is Cornelia. She does have two parents with conflicting views after all"

This had all who were present nod their heads sadly. They knew that her mother was once part of a group of druids that saw warlocks as unnatural beings and believed they needed to be cleansed. Though Lady Hale's views had softened to just keep your distance from warlocks instead of killing warlocks it still did not help matters.

Lord Hale one the more wealthy and powerful lords in the kingdom and did not hate warlocks. In fact he tried to create an academy for them. But because he lacked the support to pull it off he failed unfortunately. He saw warlocks as just another from of spell casters and due to fact they had nearly unlimited supernatural energy made them ideal for many tasks.

He was the reason for his wife's some what change of heart and his daughter's noble upbringing making a rather strange mix of being a druid yet living like a noble. It was strange to see a druid that could be so connected to nature yet so focused on things like fashion and appearance.

Then again it was also strange for a noble and druid to marry and no one could ever figure out how that came to be.

Mean while Will had every one in her room and thought it was bit crowded, though still enough room for them all. Once every one was in a chair or, in Will case, sitting on her bed the questions started coming.

"So Will, we heard you're a Gifted. Are you the same as Susan or a different combination of classes?" Taranee asked getting every else to listen closely to Will's answer.

Will a bit nervous managed to answer with nod and said, "Ya, I'm a gifted in the sorcerer and fighter classes like Susan" leaving out the fact she was also a warlock as well.

'I'm sorry Susan' Will thought to herself knowing the Elvin woman wanted her to trust these girls, but she couldn't. She wanted to feel accepted if only for a little while by people her own age.

The other girls were unaware of Will's internal battle with herself as they started asking questions again "So have you trained with Susan for very long?" Hey Lin asked only to be followed by a question from Irma "Ya are you ready to kick some monster butt?!"

This had Will look right at the other tomboy in surprise and confusion while Cornelia smacked the joker over the head "Real discrete Irma!" this only got Irma glaring at the noble/druid as she rubbed her head.

"Watch it Corny, or you and me will take this outside" this only got Cornelia screaming back "Don't call me Corny!"

Every One but Will started to groan at this and the Elyon stood up placing her hands firmly on the table "Okay you two that's enough" she said in a commanding voice to keep her two friends from having yet another fight.

Will watched the scene play out making her think this was normal from the way every groaned when Cornelia and Irma started fighting. After the Elyon had made the two combatants take seats again Will answered the two questions from before.

"I have been training for about a month now. As for fighting monsters I'm not sure…why do you want to know?" Will asked not sure why they would want to know how skilled she was.

Elyon decided to answer for the group "Well you see tomorrow we are going on a exploration of some ruins and if you feel like it your more then welcome to come along" the princess said making Will's jaw drop in shock.

"Nice work Elyon you broke her" Irma said going into joker mode, but the princess ignored the comment as she and the rest of the group waited for Will to respond. Though it did take a few minutes for her to do so.

When she did she started to think of what to do 'If I go it might not be so bad. But what if something goes wrong? What if we run into trouble and I need to use my warlock powers?'

After thinking for while Will answered "I don't think it's a good idea. If you think there will be trouble I might only hold you back" she said hopping her response would make a good excuse. Though from the looks of things it seemed the group was not going to buy it. They could tell she was nervous and assumed it was first time jitters. In a way they were half right, though it was mostly the warlock aspect that worried Will.

Irma stood up with a determined look in her eyes "Hey, the only way your going to grow is if you put your skills to use, but I have a solution" with that she made a gesture for every one to follow.

The joker led every one to the training ground/balcony and grabbed a wooden practice staff then tossed a practice sword over to Will. "We are going to have a little match. If I win you come with us, no ifs, ands, or buts. But if you win the choice is yours and we will accept it okay?" the jokester asked.

Will looked a little reluctant but knew it was the only way to get out of this and nodded yes then asked "Any special rules?" Will learned that in duals like this when something was being wagered, there were usually special rules made for the match.

Irma thought for a moment the answered "Lets keep it too fighting skills only, so no spells. To win you need to score one hit with your weapon okay?" this made Will nervous again seeing how that did cut her off from a lot of tricks Susan had taught her.

'But then again only powerful rangers have access to magic so it would be fair and who knows I had Susan as a Royal Knight training me. Maybe I can win' Will thought to herself, then gave one final nod as she got into a fighting stance.

The other girls on the other hand did not like this idea so much. They knew Irma had more years of training under her belt. Plus she was no ordinary ranger ether, she was an Arcane Hunter, a type of ranger who was trained to fight magic users like Will.

'And she trained in the rogue arts with me so she has that advantage as well' Hay Lin thought to herself as she watched Irma get into a fighting stance of her own and ordered her hawk off her shoulder and to stay clear of the fight. Every one but Will knew this was going to turn out bad for the half-elf.

Though the ones who were especially worried for Will were Sade and Susan, who were watching from the garden. Though the garden was not in view of the balcony, it did not matter when a scrying spell was being used.

In the garden Susan had cast her spell on the surfs of the water in the nearby fountain that was next to the table where the four women were sitting and drinking tea. They had heard the whole talk from before and Susan while disappointed that Will did not tell them understood her reasons.

"Well it looks like Will is going tomorrow if she likes it or not" Sade said knowing the young ranger's skill. Though still very weak compared to more experienced warriors, Irma's odds were very good against Will's still limited skills.

Yan Lin nodded her head sadly as she spoke "Yes, though the young has potential because of her gifted abilities they are only just starting to be brought out…unless she is has grasped the basic of reading her opponents moves" the old woman said getting Susan to turn to the old woman with a surprised look on her face.

"How did…" Susan was about to ask when Yan Lin raised her hand to silence the elf. "You are training a gifted much like your self in ability, with the exception of her warlock class of course. It is only natural for you to train her the same you were…how far has she advanced in Soaring Blade?" Yan Lin asked.

The other two women were surprised by that fact that Susan had taught Will Soaring Dance, but listened closely as Susan answered, "She has only started practicing the merging of basic swordsmanship and Dancing Leaf. If she used it now it she would be defeated faster then if she stuck to normal sword skills. And she is still having trouble reading moves in chess, let alone real combat" the Elvin woman said then turned back to the pool just in time to see the fight begin.

Irma made the first moved fully confident she would win but decided to hold back as she launched a thrust at Will with one end of her wooden weapon. Will barley sidestepped the blow even if Irma was holding back, not that Will knew that.

Will tried to slash downward with her wooden sword but Irma blocked and sent a light kick into Will's stomach. This did not hurt much but it did catch the half-elf by surprise and she stumbled backwards landing on her butt.

Irma waited for Will to get to her feet, already back in a stance waiting for the half-elf to attack this time. Will on the other hand did not know what to do. She knew she should attack and keep Irma on the defensive but was worried about a counter attack.

Will's only few basics about fighting from Susan and knew not to be forced to stay on the defensive for to long or she would be giving to much control to her opponent. 'But she countered so quickly after charging me with that thrust. How do I launch an attack against her?' Will thought to her self as got back up and stood in a defensive stance again.

Every one watching knew Will was hesitating too much. If this were a real battle, Irma would have finished her long ago. This only made it more important that Will went with them tomorrow. Though both Sade and Susan had checked to make sure the ruins were not too dangerous for the girls, there was always chance something might have moved into the ruins since the last check. This was more of a camping trip without adults then any thing else, but it would still be a learning experience from any minor creatures they encountered.

The other girls had some experience by being out with their parents or with soldiers on things such as hunts for monster or going into other ruins in the past, so they knew what to do. Will on the other hand needed what was often called baptism by fire. Even if Will only got into one battle it would help her make the first step in her real training.

'Every thing you go through until your first battle is just preparation for the growth Will, not the growth itself. So I hope Irma wraps this up soon' Susan thought as Will finally launched her attack hopping to score a hit to end the match. She attacked with a downward slash followed by a blow to the left and then to the right.

All three Irma blocked, noting that it was simple but effective combo but the speed and power were still way to low for it to work on her. Irma then saw Will trying to wrap up the combination by jumping into the air to perform one final downward slash and moved to block it.

Though the one thing Irma had not been counting on was Will putting all her weight down on her weapon and was trying to force Irma to her knees. Will also placed one hand on were the back of the wooden blade was to help give her more leverage as she forced the ranger down.

'Darn nice move dummy falling into this trap so easily. I should have just dodged and struck her while she was still in the air!' Irma scolded her self as her knees met the ground. This of course shocked every one as Irma was no weakling, and even if she was caught by surprise she should have been able to at least try and fend off the attempt.

"She over powered Irma…I don't believe it" Cornelia said in a quite tone that only the others nearby heard, getting an agreement from all of them.

"It's true she has Irma for now but in the end it won't matter" Taranee said being the best in the groups at analyzing these kind of things.

Cornelia looked at Taranee in shock "Are you watching the same fight Taranee? This match is going to be over any second now" the noble blooded druid stated as she pointed at the scene.

Taranee did not respond as she watched the match praying that Irma did not go overboard on getting even once she got up.

Will on the other hand thought she had won this fight 'All I have to do now is keep her like this until I can think of a way to score a hit' she thought then noticed a smirk on Irma's face.

"It's been fun Will but it's time for me to finish this" Irma said just before she threw Will off balance by throwing her weight to one side making Will fall over. To make things worse Will lost her weapon and before she could get up she felt something lightly strike her back.

"Got ya," she heard Irma's voice say signaling she had lost.

'Oh no' Will thought to herself, but quickly hid her fear and got up and faced Irma "Good match. I guess I'll just have to not hold back tomorrow" she said with a smile on her face. The smile was fake of course but it convinced the other girls.

The rest of the group came over while Irma patted Will on the shoulder "You won't hold us back, besides how much danger can there be if both Sade and Susan agreed to let us go alone?" she asked getting nods from the rest of the group.

"Ya Sade would not risk her only heir and daughter if she thought it would get Elyon killed or any of us for that matter," Cornelia said to reassure the new girl of their group which helped a bit.

'Ya that's right. If Elyon is Sade's only child, then she would never risk losing her. There probably won't even be any fighting so there's no need to worry' Will thought, realizing that she might not even need to use any of her skills let alone her warlock powers.

Mean while the four women were glad the match was over with Irma as the victor as expected "Will did well seeing how she has only fought against you in the past Susan," Yan Lin said noting Will could perform basic moves fairly well. She just needed to think of what to do faster.

Abele thought other wise unfortunately. She thought that it was to soon for Will to go out on something like this, even if the risk was low "Maybe she should stay behind or at least have the girls put off their trip for a while and have them train with her."

Susan looked at her friend a little hurt that Abele did not have faith that she could train Will enough to be able go on a simple exploration exercise with five more experienced girls to help her. "I think that would be a bad idea. The girls have wanted to do this for some time and it will be good for Will," Susan said hopping Sade did not agree with Abele.

Before Abele could argue her point again Sade spoke "Yes, it would be counter productive to tell Will that they could not go now that she seems to be more excited, now that Cornelia saw to it" The Queen said, then pointed at the fountain.

"Besides it looks like Will is getting some pointers," Sade added making every one look to watch what was going on.

Back with the girls Irma and Cornelia were helping Will learn that she could strike harder and faster then she did during the match. The pace was okay for when practicing with Susan because she was being told what to correct at the same time as they sparred. But during a real sparring match, it was all right to pick up the pace a bit and use your full strength and skill.

Of course even if Will had fought like this it would have not changed the out come but it would allow Will to better gauge her level of skill compared to her opponent.

To help her learn this Cornelia volunteered to be the one Will would fight. Since she was a druid she was closer to Will in combat prowess despite being as experienced as Irma. Druids were not weak in direct combat, but they were far better with magic and only fought with weapons when low on magic or when enemies got too close.

They started out slowly so Will could get used to sparring normally and build her confidence. After about ten minutes Will and Cornelia were squaring off for a match that in theory would be more even then the first.

Will being more confidant, now charged forward launching an attack against Cornelia. Cornelia blocked with expert skill but had trouble trying to counter Will's strong and fast blows.

It seemed now that every one could get a full idea of Will's physical ability they could compare her to the rest of the group. It seemed that Will was just slightly weaker then Irma in terms of strength but was a bit faster. The better speed was partially due to her half-elf heritage, but to gain that kind of speed so quickly either Will was already very quick or had special speed training.

"Could Lady Vandom be training Will in her sword style?" Taranee asked Irma, seeing how the ranger knew more about swordplay then her self.

Irma nodded looking a little jealous. She had wanted to learn Soaring Dance when she saw it as a young girl. But Susan said that would require her to leave home to train with her for several years, and with her mother being pregnant, and with just her little brother around, Susan said Irma was needed at home to help with the knew addition to the family and convinced her to stay with her family.

Hay Lin spoke so as to keep her friend from getting grumpy. "Hey no need for jealousy Irma. Your great with a double bladed sword and Soaring Dance needs you to use a single long sword. You would have wasted all your training if you switched now," this helped improve Irma's mood a bit knowing what Hay Lin said was true.

Back at the match between the gifted half-elf and the noble blooded druid, the tides were now turning. Cornelia had finally managed to go on the offensive and was showing that once again skill over came physical ability.

Will was barely holding onto her weapon because it seemed her opponent was bent on disarming her instead of striking her. 'I don't think I can keep this up much longer…unless' Will thought to her self with smirk that worried Cornelia.

'What is she planning…no matter I'll have her beat before she can pull it off what ever it is' the druid thought to her self as she made the next attempt to disarm Will. It worked but only because Will let go of her weapon confusing the druid just long enough to kick her in the shin hard.

"OW!" Cornelia screamed as Will quickly went to go get her weapon back. The other girls watching were laughing as Cornelia started jumping around on one leg while holding her other. They knew she had forgot all about Will who was now coming up from behind with her weapon and started poking her in the back with it.

This had signaled Cornelia had lost and the druid turned around in shock. While she lacked Irma's skill in combat, she should have, in theory, won this match. 'It had to be luck. That's all' the druid thought to herself as she tried to keep a level of dignity by making it look like the accepted the out come.

"Well I'll admit no one would expect that move" Cornelia said to Will with a smile on her face. Every one but Will knew it was an act, since they knew Will had injured their friend's pride a bit.

'Well she is at least trying to be civil, and Cornelia normally does not like to loose' Elyon thought to herself as she watched the two former opponents shake hands. After that every one went back to Will's room so they could talk about the trip tomorrow and learn more about their new friend.

Back where the four women sat, Susan waved her hand to make the image disappear and finally give the girl's some privacy. Susan then looked at Abele with a prideful smirk on her face "Still don't think Will should go?" she asked with a triumphant tone of voice.

"Susan don't start any unnecessary fights," Sade warned making sure Susan and Abele did not try to find who could blast the other into oblivion the fastest.

But it seemed Abele, aka The Mage was actually looking regretful at what she suggested earlier. "I do apologize Susan, though I would prefer it if some more experienced was with them, if they are taking a beginner with them" Abele said.

She did not have a problem with Will going. It was the fact that no one who knew how to deal with a panicking beginner would not be there if something did happen. Especially as said beginner would most likely be holding back a key aspect of her training.

Susan nodded her understanding at the other woman's concern "I would prefer the same, but I have double checked the ruins regularly and I never found any thing the girls could not handle. As long as Will follows their lead she will be just fine. Besides I don't think Will's the type to panic easily," the Elvin woman said hopping to relieve some of Abele's fears.

While it did helped a bit, Abele still did not like it. But she would accept the fact that Will was going, plus Susan was probably right and nothing bad would happen any way. After that the four women went to talk about more pleasant things and leave the concerns for the girls exploration behind them.

Later once evening had come, the girls were getting ready for bed when there was a knock at the door. "Come in" all six girls said at the same time making them stare at each other as the door opened.

Susan then walked in giggling at what happened. "Glad to see you are all in synch with one another," this had the girls picking up their pillows to show the Royal Knight how in synch they were.

But before the could start the assault Susan held her hand up and spoke "Will, can I talk to you for a minute? I just want to go over some things you may need to know for your trip," she said and left the room with Will following close behind.

Susan closed the door and gestured for Will to go sit on the bed wear a traveling pack was, as well as something wrapped in a large cloth. Once Will sat down Susan spoke in a quite tone so the other girls could not over hear "I know you did not tell them about your Warlock abilities Will. I wish you did tell them but I understand your reasons, but try to find the courage to tell them soon" this being said by Susan made Will look down and say "I'm sorry". Will knew she had disappointed Susan by not trusting her advice to tell the girls about all of her abilities.

Susan sat down next to Will and pulled the young half-elf into a small hug. "Don't worry, I know you'll find the courage sooner or later. Remember the world needs to learn to accept you and if some one does not then it's their fault not yours," she said as she comforted her student.

"Now lets move onto the second reason to why I brought you in here," Susan said and pulled the backpack over towards them. Susan opened it showing that it held several things inside. Some flasks of oil, a lantern, a bedroll, a small steel mirror, some torches, some traveling rations, a whetstone and some flint and steel. Hanging on the side was a leather water skin to obviously hold drinking water.

"These are your basic supplies, though you and the others will be getting some normal food when you leave. The rations are just incase of emergencies so you probably won't need them, but it does not hurt to be prepared." Susan explained, then pointed to the object wrapped in the cloth.

"Open it" Susan said simply with a smile, and Will crawled over to were the cloth was. After Will reached it she unwrapped the material to revel a silver colored chain shirt and a single edged long sword much like Susan's, only it was missing the emblem of the Royal Knights.

Unknown to Will the chain shirt was made of a metal called mithral a much lighter metal then steel, but just as strong if not stronger. Normal chain shirts would have been fine but Susan wanted Will to be as safe as possible. If Susan couldn't protect Will directly during the girls' adventure, then she would just do it indirectly by spending a little extra on the armor.

'Okay maybe more then a little extra but Will is worth it' Susan thought to her self knowing that mithral armor cost a bit but Will did not need to know any of this.

Will of course was looking over to Susan in shock with tears welling up in her eyes. Not even her friends gave her something like this, and in a loss of control she dove at Susan and wrapped her arms around her.

Susan was bit surprised of the action, though it was not entirely unexpected. Susan had not expected Will to have ever been given a gift, especially one this big. Will had buried her face into Susan's shoulder and a muffled 'thank you' could be heard by the Elf.

After a few moments in the embrace Susan noticed Will's breathing became more relaxed and steady making her realize the young girl had fallen asleep in her arms. 'The excitement of day plus this must have caught up with her' Susan thought to her self as she scooped the girl up and tucked her under the cover of Susan's own bed.

Susan knew the other girls would gossip most of the night and the Elvin woman knew Will would be woken up by all that. Susan wanted to make sure Will was fully rested for the trip so she would keep her here for tonight.

Susan then went over to the corner of the room were the door to Will's room was and knocked again "Will it's your room you don't need to knock!" Susan heard from the others knowing it was Irma being her self.

Susan opened the door looking straight at Irma "Sorry to disappoint you but Will's already asleep. At least I know one of you will be wide awake tomorrow" Susan said taking a shot at the girls sleep over ritual.

This had every one confused until Taranee spoke "How did she fall asleep? She has only been gone for ten minutes?" the dark skinned girl asked and all waited for Susan to answer.

"She closed eyes and fell asleep. How else?" Susan said with a grin as she teased the girl. Of course she quickly closed the door just in time to block the barrage of pillows flying towards her.

"Night girls" Susan called through the door and headed back to her own bed and packed the armor and weapon into the backpack. After she was done she climbed into bed next to Will and entered her trance.

Before her mind went blank Susan made a silent prayer that the trip would be filled with only fond memories for Will. Unknown to the Elvin woman, the memories would be memorable but not in the way anyone had expected.

---

Next chapter is where the fun stuff begins I'll to have it out soon


	8. First Adventure Off to a Rough Start

AN: I would like to thank Wilhelmina Vandom for helping edit this chapter. Sniper was busy so I asked for a stand in until he can get some free time.

Would also like to thank The Crazy Talk Kid, KnightofFaerun, Mirai No Dinurs, Kitsune6, and Wilhelmina Vandom for reviewing.

For those waiting for Caleb arrive in this fic, that's next chapter. After that the Will x Caleb stuff will slowly build up from there.

Disclaimer: Don't own W.I.T.C.H. or D&D and probably never will. Now on with the story!

Chapter 7: First Adventure Off to a Rough Start

When Will woke up the next morning she noticed her bed seemed much softer than usual. Plus there seemed to be something very warm next to her. 'I must still be dreaming... hope I don't wake up for awhile.' Will thought to her self as she curled up against the warm thing.

Susan on the other hand looked away from the book she was reading when she felt Will pull closer to her and snuggling up against her side. Susan smiled knowing Will must be partially awake right now.

'As much as I would like her to enjoy this rare sleep in, I think I should give her one quick training lesson so she can get used to using a real weapon.' Susan thought to her self knowing the young half-elf had only used wooden swords in the past. The weight of a real sword would be much different so a short practice before the others woke up would be good for her.

Susan placed her book on the nightstand, then started to shake the half asleep girl next to her and said, "Will, time to get up."

This made Will snap upwards as she looked around and blushed in embarrassment when she realized that she had been cuddling Susan's side. "How did I…" Will tried to ask until Susan cut her off.

"You were so worn out from yesterday that you fell asleep while hugging me, so I let you sleep here last night. All the gossiping from the other girls would have only woken you up and I wanted you to be well rested for your trip." Susan explained as she went towards Will's room.

Susan opened the door to see the usual sight of the girls scattered around the room. Hay Lin was in her sleeping bag snoring away loudly while the others had used whatever means at their disposal to drown it out. Elyon, who seemed to have claimed Will's bed in her absence, had her head buried under the pillow to try and block out the noise.

Irma who was lying on the far side of the room was doing the same but using one pillow to lay her head on and a second to cover her ears.

Taranee, the ever-prepared one, had some ear plugs but the look on her face showed that they had only a limited effect against the Asian girl's snores.

Cornelia had used a pair of earmuffs that seemed to have about the same effect as Taranee's ear plugs, while she used her partner as a pillow. The poor tiger on the other hand used its paws over its ears in an attempt to block out the noise.

'The hawk, the owl, Will and the snoring rouge/wizard are the ones who will be the most rested today… Maybe I should have given them that Wand of Silence last night instead of today." Susan thought to her self with a smirk as she made her way to where Will kept her clothes.

Susan grabbed the same red tunic, black pants, and brown leather boots Will had gotten from Sade's servants the day after they met. She had also grabbed a second change of clothes just encase will needed them, along with black cloak much like Will's old tattered one but which was in perfect condition. Once she had them in hand she quietly snuck out so as not disturb the five other girls.

Once Susan was back out she handed the clothes to Will and told her to get changed for a quick training session. The Elvin woman watched Will remove the blue pajamas she had been wearing to make her realize something. Up until now she had not realized Will had finally filled out to a normal body weight.

It was not like an amazing transformation or anything, but now Will was now only a little smaller in build compared to Irma. 'If Will had been that under weight from a month ago she would have been thrown off by Irma instead of being able to force her down yesterday.' Susan thought to herself as she watched Will get dressed.

As Will slipped on her under shirt, Susan told her to put on the chain shirt next. When Will asked why Susan explained it was better for an enemy to not know if the person was wearing armour, thus make them underestimate the target. Will accepted Susan's advice as the truth, which it was but there was another reason as well. Susan did not want the other girls to make a fuss over the fact that the chain shirt was made of mithral.

Normally some one in forced service would not be given such a valuable item by the one who they were serving, even if they did dangerous jobs during their service. This was because the normal view of some one in forced service was some one who was used as cheap labour and was still legally a criminal serving time.

Plus Will, by all rights, was permitted to sell off any thing given to her to help pay off her debt faster and that was something Susan did not want to happen. Once again the Elvin woman had not noticed how attached she had become to this young girl in front of her.

Once Will was done getting dressed Susan helped fasten the sword to Will's side and led her out into the training area. The exercise was simply just to practice the sword drills Will already knew using the sword she was given.

Not a very long session, just thirty minutes or so to allow Will to adjust to the new weapon in her hands. By the time they were done the other girls were coming out the room, and all but one looking half awake and very grumpy.

Susan smiled at them and asked, "Sleep well girls?" This earned her glare from the four of the five while Hay Lin chirped, "Yup!" This only made the glares find a new target but Hay Lin was blissfully unaware while Will was confused at all this.

Irma then walked up to Will and said, "You were warned ahead of time, weren't you?" in a grumpy voice only to make the red headed half-breed more confused.

Susan glared at Irma but knew the ranger meant nothing to the accusation. "Don't be like that Irma, just because you woke up on the wrong side of the bed." Susan scolded the girl, but then put a friendly smile on her face, "Now go get breakfast since you all will be leaving in two hours."

This got all six girls heading for the door though Will had stopped to grab her new backpack before leaving. This had Susan giggling as she watched her student run to catch up with the load on her back.

Sade, Yan Lin and Abele smiled as the girls came down to eat but noticed Will was already fully dressed and equipped. "Funny how the ones who have been asking to be allowed to go alone on this trip are less prepared then the new girl." Yan Lin said as she teased the others.

The other girls paid no attention while Will blushed as she sat down to eat. Instead of the usually present oatmeal and bread that Will normally had after morning training there was a vast selection of food spread out on the table.

There were scrambled eggs, sausages, bacon, hash browns, pancakes, waffles, toast and all sorts of fruit along with milk and orange juice to drink. Will knew that since guests were in the castle it made perfect sense to have something other then simple oatmeal to eat. The only problem was Will was not sure if she was allowed any of this.

Part of her was hoping, but it was squashed when a servant gripped her arm and said, "This is for the guests. You eat else where." And then started pulling the young girl towards the kitchen.

'The little freak is being treated like a member of the nobility. It's about time she learned that she is nothing more then a mere servant.' The servant thought to herself. This woman was someone called Sara. She had long brown hair done up in a ponytail and had equally brown eyes. By commoner standards she was considered quite beautiful, but her personality did not match her appearance.

Sara hated both half-elves and warlocks like many others did and was part of a group of servants who wanted nothing more then to put Will in what they thought was her place. But Lady Vandom was either at her side at all times or Will was doing jobs assigned to her by her ladyship herself. This made it difficult for the members of this group to corner and target Will.

The fact that almost every single guard seemed to be looking out for the half-elf warlock did not help matters either. Sara could not figure out how the majority, if not all the guards seemed to actually want to protect what Sara saw as the lowest form of life that was ever created. It was ludicrous in the servant's mind but with her highness present perhaps some level of proper treatment could be delivered.

"Excuse me," The voice of said Queen spoke up in a tone that was about to prove the servant wrong. Sara turned around to see a very annoyed/angry Sade, as were all the faces of those present in the room.

This had slightly unnerved Sara, but she kept her calm as she asked, "Yes your highness?"

Sade eyed the woman before carefully speaking, "Why are you taking her away?" She asked simply and waited for whatever pathetic excuse the woman had to come out of her mouth.

Sara struggled to keep her calm under the Queen's gaze as she answered, "Well the girl is under forced service so I assumed Lady Vandom would prefer members of her staff did not eat with her guests." This was said in a clearly nervous tone and the woman was trying to figure a way out of this mess.

"You assume too much." Said another voice that brought a shiver of fear down the servant's spine causing her to turn around slowly to see Susan standing only few feet away staring at the hand that clutched Will's arm. Sara let go knowing the unspoken command and backed away from Will.

Susan temporarily looked away from Sara to look at Will with a gentle smile on her face, "Go and start eating Will before the food gets cold." Will nodded and moved back to her seat while Susan fixed her steely gaze back on Sara and moved right up into the servant's face.

"Pull a stunt like that again and not only will I dismiss you from my service but I'll also do some permanent changes to that pretty face of your." Susan said in a cold and quite whisper that even Will's keen sense of hearing could not pick up but Sara's did.

"Yes my lady." Was all the frightened servant could say as she left the room quickly to avoid any other trouble. After that Susan sat down and watched as Will loaded her plate with large amounts of food that even Irma had trouble matching.

"Not hungry are you?" Irma said only get a glare from the red head as she pointed at the ranger's plate. "Your one to talk." Will shot back and then went about eating her meal.

The other girls giggled as Irma then started eating trying to out match Will in an unofficial eating contest. All the while Yan looked over to Susan and asked, "Did you need to eat that much at her age during your training or is it just her?"

Susan shrugged, "Can't remember. I'm almost five hundred years old. It has been a long time since I was her age." The elf answered, though this was a lie since she actually had eaten the same as Will. Susan just did not want wise cracks or jokes that would most likely come if this was told to any one present. Susan then went about getting some food on her plate before the two tomboys/gluttons ate all of it.

Two hours later the girls were making final preparations for the trip, though Irma was moving bit slower than the others. She won the eating contest but only because Will had learned from experience that eating too much before doing something physical was a bad thing.

"I warned you but did you listen? No!" Will said as she teased Irma as the ranger was reaching for her double-bladed sword. "I'm warning you now, knock it off or you're going to find out why I'm called an arcane hunter instead of a ranger!" Irma yelled at Will with deadly intent but Will kept on teasing Irma until the she snapped.

"That's it!" Irma yelled and was now chasing after the half-elf with weapon in hand while Will held back just enough of her greater speed to stay just out of Irma's reach.

The four adults watched the scene with great amusement but Susan put a stop to it just to insure that no one got hurt, "Okay, that's enough or you two are staying behind." she said with just enough force to get them to stop.

The two stopped on the spot and said at the same time "Yes Susan"

After the laughing fit that followed was over from the whole event Susan gave some last minute instructions, "Okay, you girls know how to get out of there if something is beyond your ability to handle happens, right?" This got a nod from all six girls.

"Good, and just so you know Julian is going to be near that area so if something does happen just look for him on the hunting trails. You should be able to find them, right Irma?" Susan asked getting a nod from the ranger/arcane hunter.

Of course this news made Cornelia's head perk up for some reason and Abele took the liberty to answer the unasked question, "Yes, he is also in the area as well." the woman said making everyone but Cornelia, Will and Elyon groan.

Elyon was just smirking at her best friend who had a dreamy look on her face while Will looked confused. "Corny, we are not leaving at the first sight of danger so you can flirt!" Irma yelled at the noble blooded druid, which only added to Will's confusion.

In a surprising turn of events, Cornelia ignored the nickname and said, "Ya, I know I know," but then leaned over to Elyon and added, "But it might not hurt to try and leave a couple hours earlier than planned, right?" This was heard by both Will because of her naturally heightened hearing and Irma who had well trained hearing.

But while Will remained confused Irma only got more annoyed. "I swear I'll never know how you can be a druid!" she yelled out in frustration. Susan decided to cast the teleport spell before an argument could start.

In a flash they were out side the entrance to the underground ruins, but from what any one could tell it looked like just an ordinary cave. But they knew better because of what they were told. This used to be the location were a group of rogues and fighters, who had teamed up to rob the near by villages and merchant convoys forty years ago, had stayed.

They were not a major success when it came to gathering loot because Sade's mother had made sure to send soldiers to try and squash them fast. But they managed to do one thing very well and that was take down a very large number of men before being brought to justice.

With the clever use of traps and sneak attacks from the rogues and the brute strength of the fighters they had inflicted massive losses on the soldiers sent, but the soldiers kept the group contained until Sade's mother was able to send several adventure groups to deal with them.

It took a number of brave and strong groups to finally win but they did. It was also believed that all the stolen items had been found but there was still the possibility that there were still active traps and minor, but still dangerous, creatures inside so the girls needed to stay on guard.

"Okay, you have three days and Julian will be coming in there by mid day on your last day just to make sure you're alright. Make sure you all are out here when I show up to take you back." Susan instructed then placed a hand on Will's shoulder.

"Just so you can keep paying off your debt I am making it your job to watch their backs, Will. But if you happen to be having too much fun to remember to do that just lie and say you did." the Elvin woman said with a smile then teleported back home.

Will was a little surprised by what Susan had said until Irma piped up, "Well baby sitter, shall we go?" This got Will to look over at Irma and glare at her before marching into the ruins instead of saying any thing. This had everyone snicker at the half-elf's actions but followed after her.

As they traveled they noticed the cave was becoming more building like in design. This was not unexpected because they were told there was a reason why the group of bandits used this place. It was used by some group before them, some forgotten cult, making it easy for the second group to alter the already existing structure to build complex traps into it.

Because there were dangerous traps still present, Irma and Hay Lin took the lead because they both had training as rogues. This made them better able to locate the traps before any one set them off.

They found one and the group stopped as the two tried to disarm it, or at least find a safe way around it. "A rather simple one, but we can't disarm it. We all will need to walk on the right tiles to avoid setting it off." Hay Lin said getting a nod from Irma.

Hay Lin then stood up and took out a piece of chalk before walking on very specific tiles, marking each one she stepped off of. After she was done every one stepped on the spot she had marked, even Snowflake managed to keep on the safe path, much to her druid partner's relief.

Will then asked, "If we had stepped on the wrong ones what would have happened?"

Irma looked over to Elyon and asked, "Care to risk your stick?" This got a nod from the princess who was curious as well and handed her staff over to the ranger. Irma then slammed the staff on one of the unmarked tiles making streams of fire shoot out from the wall.

Irma handed the staff back to a shocked Elyon, an emotion reflected by everyone else with the exception of Hay Lin of course. "Hey, that actually looks pleasant! Any one want to go for a stroll through there?" Irma asked in her usual joking manner.

The others did not find it very funny but just ignored it as Irma being Irma. They had come across several traps ranging from pitfalls to arrows shooting out of walls. Will had to say one thing, "Susan agreed to send us in here!"

The other girls laughed at this statement but knew it was understandable that she thought something like this was out of their league. Will was new to this kind of thing while the others had information and stories drilled in their heads to prepare them for this. Will's training had prepared her for combat not exploration, so they guessed that was a secondary motive for Susan to send Will with them.

'What better way to train some one in exploring then to throw them into one?' Elyon thought to her self, knowing how hard it was during her first time. She was so scared she had clung to her mother almost every time when something happened.

The other girls had similar experiences though for this kind of thing, Irma and Hay Lin were the most experienced. The training for a rogue was to put them through obstacle courses much like how these ruins were designed.

Though the traps were not nearly as lethal since it was just training, the basic idea prepared them for it. Plus they shared the stories with the others to help prepare them for such sights. But Will had not had the chance to hear them so she was at a handicap in comparison.

They knew that if a fight broke out they would most likely be able to count on Will's training to back up Irma in melee combat. But until then they would have to just enjoy Will's rants about having a long talk with Susan in three days which they found entertaining.

They especially broke out laughing when they heard how Will was going to change Susan's face and hair color again. They made Will explain that comment in detail, getting a major laughing fit as they laughed at the images of Susan with pink hair and a cherry red face.

Though Will had skilfully omitted the details of how she came up with idea for it and what Susan had done in response. 'I'd sooner tell them that I am a warlock then let them know about those little stories.' Will thought to her self as they traveled through the maze of trap filled hallways.

They had eventually come to a door that they assumed lead to a room or something. "I swear if this leads to yet another set of hallways I am going to be very annoyed." Irma said while Hay Lin and Taranee were working on the map of the ruins.

This was so they did not get lost and also to know were else was left to explore. So far they had found only hallways or stairways that lead downward into the next floor. They had come across no rooms or chambers of any kind. They all felt the same as Irma, wanting to find something other then the same trap filled passages they had been traveling in for hours.

'No wonder it took so many soldiers and adventures to defeat the bandits. Having to travel three floors worth of these trap filled mazes probably made them all mentally worn out.' Will thought to her self. They had spent the whole day just to get this far and all agreed that no matter what was beyond this door they would call it quits and set up camp.

They needed some rest and the only reason they knew it was night time now was because of a strange amulet Taranee had. It grew darker during the day and grew brighter as night came making it help full to know roughly what times it was.

They all crossed their fingers and opened the door to reveal a large room to their relief. But that quickly faded when they saw what lived in it. About thirty large rats were in the room. Large meaning two-thirds the size of Snowflake. This caused Cornelia, Elyon and Taranee to scream at the sight while Hay Lin looked nervously, but Irma and Will seemed be the least affected at the sight of the vermin.

"Corny, I hope Snowflake is hungry because here comes dinner," Irma said as she drew her double-bladed sword followed by Will, though the half-elf looked less confident than her friend. This was only because it would be her first real battle and not because of the rats. This was because she was used dealing with normal sized pests from her past way of life. These were just bigger versions to her but unlike dealing with the smaller ones these were more dangerous.

'Don't worry, just make sure not to get bit and you'll be fine Will.' The red head told her self in her mind as she, Irma, Irma's hawk and now a very furious tiger stood at the front of the group. The rats attracted by the screaming were advancing quickly towards them.

"Stop your attempts at singing and help! Besides, you're horribly off tune!" Irma shouted in a mocking tone at her screaming friends while she and Will started to slash and thrust at the rats.

Snowflake was swiping her claws at them and Irma's hawk clawing at them from above followed by Trainee's owl. Hay Lin's cat tried to join the fray but her owner was keeping a tight grip on the feline knowing it would only be eaten. Since she was doing this the rogue/wizard was pretty much out of the fight as were the three still screaming girls.

"I don't believe this! It's your first time and you're actually doing something while the three experienced ones are freaking out! Just because of a few over sized vermin!" Irma growled out to Will as they kept the rats at bay with their swords swinging.

The rats were not charging the group because the swinging blades and the snarling and swiping tiger kept them backing off when they tried to get close. The tiger was the main reason for this because even though they were in closer size to the large cat they still had a natural fear of its kind.

The hawk and owl team were the only ones doing any real damage by swooping down and raking at the giant rats with their talons then pulling back up to avoid attacks.

Cornelia was finally coming back to her senses as was Elyon as they watched the three animals and two sword swingers combat the vermin. Well that and the fact that Irma was constantly shooting insults at them. They then helped Taranee snap out of it as well and planned a counter attack to finish the vermin in one fell swoop.

First they helped Hay Lin secure her familiar in her backpack so she could focus on the plan. They would need her, Elyon, and Taranee to pull it off with a spell they all knew. Cornelia would be left out of the loop because she was unable to cast the spell because it was arcane and she could only cast divine spells.

"Nice of you to join us." Irma growled at them as she kept trying to strike one of the rats, but they all kept just out of range of her blows. Will was just focused on the battle so she did not say anything, though she seemed to be more accepting towards the others girls' fear of the vermin army.

The first three girls knew they deserved the chewing out they would get later, but they also knew Hay Lin would be spared. She after all was trying to prevent her familiar from getting killed something that was acceptable while their mindless panicking was not.

Cornelia knew now was not the time to start apologizing just yet so she just spoke out. "Don't worry. We are going to make up for that. Just make sure the air attack force stays out of the way" the druid instructed. Irma not knowing the exact plan was curious to why, but knew better then to ask and at a time like this.

Both she and Taranee called off their partners and then Will and Irma were told to get behind Elyon, Hay Lin and Taranee. Once they did and Snowflake followed after, the three casters used their Burning Hands spells.

With that three cones like shaped blasts fired from the three pair of hands and like a tidal wave swept over the vermin. A few either managed to avoid or survive the three spells but that was when the original attack force moved in.

Will, Irma and Snowflake charged in to finish off the remainder of the vermin but this time Cornelia also joined in since she had not been able to help with the first part of the plan. It was a quick final attack, the only part that scared any one was what happened to Will.

While she was finishing off an injured rat the last one leapt at her to try and bite her. But Will noticed it at the last second was able to dodge the leap and grabbed the rat by the tail. Then with her Shocking Grasp spell she electrocuted the rat to death.

After every one had calmed down from the battle they started to set up camp for the night. They noticed this room might have been a barracks for the bandits. On one side of the room it looked like what could have been weapon racks though now they had been chewed up or have fallen apart now. There were a great deal of tables and chairs that were in the room as well. In the center was a fire pit and above it was a large hole that most likely acted as a chimney.

Once they cleared away the dead and chard corpses of the rats they lit the fire pit using old wooden objects in the room as fire wood. They ate a simple meal of rice, salted strips of beef and dried fruit. The food was meant to last a few days so it was ether heavily salted or dried out so it would last long enough.

For Snowflake she just ate some of the less burnt rat corpses, which the girls just ignored so not to get sick to their stomachs. After their meal they all turned in for the night though each took turns doing night watch just to be safe.

The next morning after they ate another small meal they had set out to search more of the ruins. They guessed they were now in what the bandits used as their base because there were less traps in this part of the ruins.

The group was large so most of the chambers they found were much like the ones they slept in last night. Though they were all hopping to find some treasure to keep as keepsakes, all they found were old rusted weapons, armour and dead bodies. Well that and more large rats that had moved in over the years.

Susan and Sade certainly showed they had faith in the six girls' ability to handle all this, not that the rats were not much a challenge despite their abnormal size.

This made Will glad because so far she had not needed to risk using her warlock powers. That meant all she had to do was hope she could make such a good friend with them that if they did find then maybe at least one or two will still talk to her afterwards.

Though right now she was more focused on the fact that Irma and Cornelia were arguing which way to go. "It's the left path we should take, we will reach a dead end if we keep going right!" Irma yelled at the blonde as she pointed to map that Hay Lin was putting the finishing touches on.

"That's why we should keep going right then we can chart the whole side then go the other way!" Cornelia shot back making it a never-ending cycle of disagreements and insults as the two girls argued on and on.

"They have been at it for ten minutes now, how can they do that while nearly using the same sentence over and over again?" Will asked as she sat on the floor to wait for the bickering pair to come to an agreement.

Taranee who was sitting next to Will just shrugged, "No idea, they just seem to be able to." Then looked over to Elyon on the opposite wall. "Elyon, shouldn't you try to stop it, it looks like they're about to start going at it with weapons soon." The dark skinned wizard asked.

Elyon shook her head frantically. "No way am I getting in the middle of them now. They are way to mad at each other to listen to reason right now." The princess said knowing there was no way for her to break this argument between her best friend and Irma.

Will on the other hand was getting sick of it and decided to end this. Some people would think she was either very brave or just plain crazy for doing what she was about to do. She walked over to where Hay Lin was, just right behind the bickering duo.

She was just finishing the new addition to the map when she heard Will ask, "Can you give me the map for a second?" the Asian girl only nodded with a confused look on her face as Will read the map. Will then started heading towards Cornelia and Irma.

'Why is she heading towards them?' Hay Lin wondered then saw Will hold the map for both to see and the Asian girl's jaw dropped at what happened next.

Will walked up to them and held up the map pointing to a spot on it. "We are going right there, there should be only one room at the end of the hallway from what I can tell from the rest of the layout so lets go." With that she started heading down the hallway to the right.

Every one was staring in the direction in shock. Will never spoke with a level of authority to any one but those who still had some reasoning power guessed it was just because Will was tired of the argument and chose to make the decision for the group.

Hay Lin had recovered first because she wanted the map back so she could keep adding new details to it. Taranee and Elyon had quickly followed after that only leaving the still shocked druid and ranger.

"Did she…" Cornelia started to ask while Irma finished as well as answers the question "Tell us what to do? Ya, I think so." This greatly confused the two but they took off after the group so not to be left behind.

Once they reached the end of the hall it seemed will had guessed right, there was just the one room at the end. "How did you know this would be here?" Taranee asked the half-elf who was now giving the map back to Hay Lin.

Will looked over to the wizard and said, "Like I said the pattern of the lay out seemed to show that there would be one final room so…I took a guess." Will answered getting Irma looking over to Cornelia and stuck her tongue out at her.

"Told ya it would lead to a dead end." She said and was angering the druid until Will spoke again. "That is enough, we want to explore not listen to you two argue all day." Will said in a tone that everyone recognized as one Susan would use to get the two to stop arguing.

Elyon smirked at this as she thought to her self, 'Susan is rubbing off on her, I bet once Will gets a little more confidents she will be the one running this group.'

This train of thought made the princess a bit envious of the red headed half-elf. She was after all born and bred to rule the kingdom one day but she could not even act as peacemaker between two of her friends. But Will on the other hand could make them stop so easily once Will put her mind to it, not that the half-elf realized this of course.

Elyon continued to watch Will lay down the law as she spoke to Hay Lin. "How long will it take you add this to the map?" she asked the unofficial mapmaker of the group.

Hay Lin thought for moment and said, "Five to ten minutes." She answered getting a nod from the current leader of the group. "All right, ten minute brake for Hay Lin to do her thing." Will said as everyone entered the room.

This room looked like it was shared by several people like several other rooms they found that were most likely used as sleeping quarters. This was assumed because of the worn down bunk beads in the rooms.

They had encountered some of the large rats in some of the rooms but as they had noticed as they traveled down three more floors that the rats seemed to be thinning in number the further they went.

The fourth floor was heavily populated with giant vermin as was the fifth but this floor was strangely barren with the exception of a few in some of the rooms here and there. Irma said that it should have been the other way around in most cases meaning that there might be something else besides rats in the ruins. Irma knew this because of her training as a ranger and they all knew to take this warning seriously.

But from what they were told there was only seven floors to this place so all they had to do was finish charting this floor today and then just explore the last one for an hour or two before heading back up to meet up with Susan.

By the time they get the chance to come back to finish the ruins they would all probably be stronger and better able to handle what ever was on the seventh floor. That was if they were not able to handle it already, that is seeing how the rats were hardly a challenge once the girls got their act together.

Though if Will could keep squishing the arguments between Cornelia and Irma then they might even be able to start the last floor today. Everyone had to admit Will being able to deal with those two's arguing in any form was impressive. The sudden show of authority seemed to keep Irma and Cornelia quite as if they were nervous to make Will do that again. This was strange since Cornelia and Irma were the two big shots in the group, though overall Cornelia seemed to be the one in charge.

Elyon took charge at times as well but normally left her best friend to the role of leader. The fact that some one else put their foot down seemed to make the two a little humbled by the experience…for the moment anyways.

They had managed to finish the floor by the end of the day despite the better cooperation in the group but it was still done much quicker then normal. They had set up camp in an old bunkroom near the entrance to the final floor and every one was doing the normal preparations for the meal.

As they waited for the food to cook, Irma asked, "Hey Will, how come you went into leader mode all of a sudden earlier?"

Will looked a little embarrassed at the memory as she answered, "Sorry about that I just wanted to move on so I guess I got impatient. I know I…" Will was saying until Irma spoke up again.

"You got us back on track, that's all that matters. I want to know how does this effect our unique little group seeing how we got four potential leaders?" Irma said and every one knew what she meant by that.

When this group was first formed Cornelia tried to encourage Elyon to be the leader since she was the princess and could use the experience for when she became queen. But Elyon lacked confidence back when this group was formed and Cornelia some how ended up in charge.

But Irma was a bit of a free spirit and liked to do things her own way so it ended up with her being another candidate for leadership of the group. Elyon seeing this tried to act as mediator between the two making her the third possible leader but lacked the will to get between the other two when they were in their most heated arguments.

But now Will showed she was able to get between the druid and ranger when they were at their worst, even if it was due to loosing patience with them. 'Plus it probably injured some of Cornelia's pride.' Taranee thought to her self, noticing the druid was staying silent.

This was very unusual for the noble blooded druid who did not like being ordered around by most people of their own age. Elyon, and to an extent Irma, were the only ones who could pull that off.

Will on the other hand was now panicking at what Irma said. "Hold it, I am no leader, I just wanted to get moving and did something stupid by telling two more experienced people what to do." The half-elf said hopping she had not angered Cornelia seeing how she had been so quite since then.

After the meal they all turned in for the night. Like the night before they took shift on watch even though they were in a room with the door barricaded. This was just to play it safe just encase something was more dangerous then the giant rats in the ruins.

Will was being woken for her shift to see Cornelia was doing the shaking. "I thought Hay Lin was…" The half-elf started to ask thinking the Asian girl was the one before her but Cornelia interrupted by saying, "I asked to change shifts."

Will was nervous about why until she heard the blonde speak again. "I'll admit I was a little mad at the fact you jumped in and took charge earlier but I know you only meant to help so it's no big deal." The druid explained making Will feel less worried about being eaten in her sleep by Snowflake.

But it seemed Cornelia was not finished yet, "Also, thanks for getting us back on track earlier. Just try to be careful about doing that in the future, me and Irma can get in some heated arguments over little things and I don't want you to get your head bit off because our tempers are flaring up." The druid said then headed off to bed and left Will to her shift.

Cornelia had said this for another reason though she did not realize it yet. She was afraid Will would become the leader. Over the years she had been in charge for the most part, even though she originally wanted Elyon to have that role. Since her best friend did not though, Cornelia took up the role despite Irma often rising up questioning this position.

Some part of Cornelia's mind made her say those things in hopes of convincing the red head to back down with out resorting to petty fights like her and Irma had. But no matter what the druid did, nothing would stop what was to come. Change was coming and there was nothing no one could do to stop it.

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Well there you go, hoped you all liked it. The next chapter should be out soon.


	9. Leader Born, Secret Revealed and Heros

AN: Here is the next chapter of Shunned One. I would like to thank Ice Queen of Candracar & Wilhelmina Vandom betaing this fic.

I would also like to thank Ice Queen of Candracar, Wilhelmina Vandom, Darkness-Lightness, Lisifa and The Crazy Talk Kid for reviewing.

Disclaimer: I don't own W.I.T.C.H. or D&D

Chapter 8: A Leader is Born, A Secret Revealed and Heroes Arrive

The next morning the group was discussing what to do. They knew they had three to four hours max before they needed to start heading back up to the entrance. They were thinking of sending two people to do a quick scouting mission then come back to tell the rest what happened.

This was just so they could get a glance at what was on the last floor and if there was something very strong down there. Every one knew Irma would be one of the two because being both ranger and rouge she had the stealth and power for the job. The only problem was who the second person would be.

Hay Lin had the stealth but lacked physical strength to be much of a fighter and they needed her to conserve magic for when they went down there as a group. No one else even had any experience in the skill except Will but she did not specialize in it like Irma or Hay Lin did.

"We don't have much choice." Will said getting up as she added, "I'm the only one with both stealth and combat skills besides Irma, so me and her will go." This made the side of Cornelia that was worried about the half-elf's latent leadership ability stir.

Cornelia overall did not hate Will for this still dormant ability but couldn't help having the common reaction most people in charge had when their position was threatened by another, she feared it.

Cornelia mentally gave her head a shake, 'She is just trying to impress every one so she can become part of the group, that's all. I bet even if she has the ability she would not be interested.' The noble blooded druid thought to her self as the group talked over the final decision.

In the end they all had to agree Will was the best choice to go with Irma and so the two went down the hallway towards the set of stairs that lead to the final floor. After they left Irma asked, "So you ready for the biggest fight of your life?"

Will looked over to Irma, her face was clearly confused, "We don't know if there is any thing down there yet." She said wondering if the other tomboy had been hoping for a huge battle or something.

Irma shook her head with a playful smirk on her face, "No, I mean with Cornelia, she is probably worried you're going to be challenging her for leadership of the group."

This made Will shake her head frantically, "I am not trying to be leader, why does every one keep thinking that!" The half-elf said frantically hoping that she had not made Cornelia hate her.

Irma just laughed as the red headed half-elf's panic attack then said, "Oh, don't worry, Corny was not supposed to be leader any ways, Elyon was. Back when our group was formed it was tough getting used to having such a mixed group and Elyon sort of just kept quite hoping that if she did not try to lead then it might have made it easier to make friends with me, Hay Lin and Taranee."

Irma stopped for a moment to think then spoke again, "Corny took the position of leader just so some one was keeping the group organized. The only reason Corny and me fight all the time, besides have clashing personalities, is also to encourage Elyon to act as the peace keeper. We were hopping it would bring Elyon out of her shell, but as you can see it did not work." The ranger said sadly as they approached the stairway.

Will then asked, "You mean all those fight are staged? Great, that means I messed things up even more then I thought."

This got Will a light swat on the side of head from Irma to knock some sense into the half-elf's head. "You did not mess up any thing, Elyon gave up long ago and Corny and me fight because that's just how we do…They just had s useful purposes as well at one point." Irma said firmly so the half-elf did not get the idea she did something wrong.

Irma then put on a friendly face seeing how Will was now getting worried. "Don't worry about it, lets just back to our job. We can worry about the leader problem once we get top side." This being said got a nod from the half-elf and they quietly made their way down the stairs.

As they reached the bottom they heard noises coming from the room as well as a loud scream. "NO! Please don't eat Blunk!" This made both girls quickly rush to ether side of the entrance and peek into the next room.

It seemed that the final floor to these ruins was just one massive sized chamber but what was in inside was not what they were expecting. In side were four of the most dangerous races in the world Goblins, Hobgoblins, Orcs and Bugbears.

Goblins were tiny in size, vast in number but were a cowardly race that was not much of threat unless they had creatures like the Orcs, Hobgoblins and Bugbears to lead them. All Goblins share the same physical appearance of being short in height with long arms that hang down to their knees, having flat faces, broad noses, pointed ears and wide mouths with small sharp fangs. Their foreheads slope back and had yellow eyes and had reddish brown skin.

Hobgoblins were distant cousins of goblins and were the exact opposite of them. They were the size of the average human and being very aggressive warriors they did not posses the cowardly nature of their smaller relatives. They did share the same reddish brown skin and yellows eyes but that was where most of the similarities ended. They were a military breed and often bullied their small relatives into working under them, so to make use of the Goblins' vast numbers.

Orcs had gray skin, coarse hair, stooped postures, low foreheads, and porcine faces with prominent lower canines that resembled a boar's tusks. They also possessed lupine ears and blood red eyes.

Though Orcs were big and menacing creatures with great physical strength they were also a bit stupid. But they were smart enough to make use of their great strength to be quite dangerous and with the other races present they were even more so.

The final race the Bugbears were despite their name a part of the Goblinoid race and were biggest, strongest, and meanest of them all. They were large and muscular, standing over 7 feet tall. They were yellowish brown in color with thick, coarse hair that was brown or brick red in color. Their eyes were like those of a savage animal that were greenish white in color with red pupils, and had wedged shaped ears. The Bugbears' mouths were full of long, sharp fangs and their noses are much like a bear's nose and posses the same sense of smell. This feature is what gave them their racial name along with the bear like claws they posses, but these claw like hands were just as dexterous as a human's hand.

This had Will gulp at the sight while Irma whispered, "I don't know about you but I think this is out of our league." This got a nod from Will until they heard another scream, "Please spare Blunk!"

Both girls turned their attention back to the room and noticed a large fire in the middle of the room surrounded by Bugbears. Hanging over the fire on a spit was something that only a Bugbear could stand to eat, a Passling.

Passlings were a race of greedy little creatures that would try to sell any thing they could get their hands on. Plus they were one of the smelliest creatures to ever exit. Hard to imagine with their keen sense of smell that they could stand their own stench.

Will had dealt with many Passlings in the past and it was because of their 'services' that she had managed to survive when Belcoot and his group were not around to help her. She could not let this one be eaten…Even if it did probably try to steal from these creatures to begin with.

"Let's get back to the others and try to plan a rescue." Will said and was heading back up the stairs with a very stunned Irma trying to keep up.

Once they were a safe distance away Irma started yelling, "Are you insane! There has got to be hundreds of them in there and that's just counting the Goblins! I don't even want to know how many Orcs, Hobgoblins and Bugbears there are!"

While Irma was yelling this, the door to the room where the others were, swung open to see the wide eyes of the four girls. "Please tell me this is one of your jokes Irma!" Cornelia said in horror getting a nod from the others girls who were thinking the same thing.

Will just shook her head as she said, "No there is an army of all four of those races down there and they are about to have roast Passling for breakfast." This got Cornelia looking at her in even more horror.

"And this concerns us how!" The druid screeched making Will cover her sensitive half-elf ears. There were many advantages to having heightened hearing but it came at a price in these cases.

"My hearing works just fine, or did until you all started yelling any way." Will said with great annoyance as she waited for the pain to go away.

Once it did she continued, "Passlings have practically saved my life in the past so I think it's time I returned the favour. If none of you want to help that's fine but I'm going." Will said, then turned around to leave.

They were all shocked at the look of determination that had been on the half-elf's face. As they walked away Taranee called out, "Will, wait!"

Will turned around to see the dark skinned wizard rushing to catch up as was Hay Lin and Irma. Cornelia and Elyon looked like they wanted to rush over as well but looked like fear prevented them.

"You can't go alone, besides this is a stealth mission so unless you cast an invisibility spell on your self you're going to need help." This got a nod from the other two present.

Will was shocked as she asked, "Why did you suddenly change your minds?" This got a smirk from Irma who said, "Got to keep our new friend alive or Susan will kill us for letting you go and get your self eaten. Plus we got to save those Bugbears from poisoning them selves on Passling meat."

This got Hay Lin giggling while Taranee rolled her eyes but still had a smirk on her face. Will was feeling a great deal of relief that she had help but before they could plan a rescue there was something they needed to do first.

Will then walked back to were Elyon and Cornelia was and said something to help end their mixed feeling about helping and staying behind. "It's better you two stay behind since Elyon is the princess after all. We can't risk her any ways; I should have thought of that when I made my decision." Will said looking a little guilty at her over sight.

After a moment Will said, "Hay Lin, you stay with Cornelia and Elyon and if the rescue stirs up too much trouble your specialty with illusions should keep those things from finding you three."

This strategy had shocked the group because of how solid it was. Magic was a rather limited resource among the four races they were about to face and a lot of them were not too bright either. It was a good plan and every one was starting to see a glimpse of what Cornelia deep down knew was going to emerge one day. Will was starting to become a leader and it was coming faster then the druid had hoped. The fact that Will was brave enough to go rescue the Passling when the rest of them would have left it also spoke volumes of the half-elf's abilities.

Taranee was the first to speak after the moment of silence, "That's a good idea, it does take a bit out of our stealth ability but we do need to insure Elyon's safety before doing any thing. If we are going to save the Passling we need to go now and that means we can't wait to give them enough time to go up a few floors so hiding would be the best bet." The wizard said in agreement.

Will nodded at this analysis and added, "Even if the Orcs or Goblinoids do find them, Elyon, Cornelia and Hay Lin can blast them with magic or get attacked by Snowflake."

Elyon did not want to be protected because of her status as heir to the throne but she knew they were right. 'If only I had brought Silvia then we might have been able to scare them away but she was too big to enter the ruins.' The princess thought to her self, wishing her powerful familiar was here with them right now.

While Elyon was wishing this the three members of the rescue team were coming up with a simple but effective plan. Taranee being able to cast the very useful second grade spell Invisibility would make it easy to get in and free the Passling and if they got caught, Taranee would provide something to distract the enemy.

The three girls made their way back down the stairs to the large chamber and once again heard the Passling screaming, "Please no! Blunk not make good roast!" This caused Irma to say, "Did we forget to mention his name is Blunk?"

This made the other two roll their eyes at the fact that Irma could make jokes at a time like this but they had to admire it as well. Taranee cast her spell on the three of them but this drained a good portion of magic for the young wizard. Both Will and Irma knew she only had enough magic for the diversion, maybe a few combat spells, but not much.

They then quietly made their way into the chamber and made their way to the large fire in the middle of the chamber. During this second trip they noticed that at the far end of the chamber there was large hole in the wall with more members of the four groups coming through.

This meant that the bulk of their forces were still under ground and the hole looked like it was only recently made. This meant they had come shortly after Susan's last check of the ruins and if all four racers were here together that means they were going to be a new group of raiders.

'That would not be good, their numbers are probably far greater then the group of human raiders from 40 years ago.' Taranee thought to her self as they made their way over to the screaming Passling.

When they got there they saw the Bugbears were enjoying the Passlings screams of terror as he slowly rotated over the flame. This was where the plan was tricky because the invisibility spell would end if they tried to attack and it would be tricky to free the Passling known as Blunk with out getting the creatures in the room to back off first.

They knew they would need Taranee's little distraction if they were going to pull this off so the wizard started casting the spell. This instantly made her visible for all to see but before any of the four races could even yell out Taranee's spell was completed.

She cast another second grade spell called Pyrotechnics, a spell that required an already existing fire as a source to create one of two effects. One of these was a cloud of smoke that could be used to make those with in it to choke on and blind them. This version was only good for about twenty feet from the fire source so it would not do.

The second option, on the other hand, would be perfect for their needs. It created fireworks that practically filled the chamber with blinding flashes of light that caused many to be blinded and/or panicking at the sudden action.

While chaos ensued from the decoy tactic the now visible Irma and Will freed the bound Passling from the long stick he had been tied to which no longer had a fire underneath. The fire had been consumed by the spell and since it had been, it made it easier to free the prisoner/meal.

The scared Passling was smart enough to realize that he was being rescued and nearly jumped for joy until all three girls yelled, "Run!"

With this the group made their way to the stairway but as they did five of the Orcs had recovered from the blinding lights and were now heading after the group of four.

The Orcs had been slowed down by the panicking Goblins that got in their way but they were still closing the gap between them and their prey. The three girls and Blunk the Passling were half way up the stairs when Taranee tripped.

"We got you now human!" the Orc that was in the lead yelled out as it closed in on the wizard when all of a sudden a blast of pink and red energy struck it in the face killing it instantly.

Taranee looked back only to see Will flying past her with sword covered in the same pink and red energy. She slashed the next Orc and if it was not for the fact Will's sword was infused with her eldritch energy it might have survived but that was not the case.

The last three were shocked and confused at this sudden attack plus they were to busy pushing aside the corpses of their fallen allies to see Will continuing her assault. The third Orc's final sight was Will's blade coming down on top of his head just before it split down the middle.

To free her blade from the skull it was imbedded in Will's foot slammed into the dead Orc's chest and pulled back on her weapon at the same time. This not only freed her weapon but also sent the dead Orc's body flying back into one of the still living ones and was making a struggle to deal with sudden weight.

The fifth Orc on the other hand was now trying to attack the half-elf who had just slain three of its comrades in a great rage. "Die half breed!" It roared as it swung its sword at Will.

Will blocked the swing but the attack partially damaged the blade by the sheer force of the blow. It also made Will stumble back wards and land next to Taranee. The raging Orc was about attack again but Will recovered enough to thrust her sword into its heart.

The Orc had a look of horror on its face as its last thoughts were of it realizing it had been killed by a mere half-elf. As Will tried to free her weapon though it snapped, the damage from before had taken its toll on the blade.

Will looked at the broken sword that was still left in her hand thinking Susan would be mad at her for breaking her gift until she heard Taranee and Irma scream, "WILL!"

This made the half-elf look up to see the last Orc still alive thrusting its spear at her, striking her right in the middle of the chest. The force of the blow made Will stumble against the wall of the stairway and the spear was being readied to deliver another blow. To counter Will dropped the remains of her broken weapon to fire an eldritch blast from each hand. The two bolts were more the enough to kill the Orc before it could attack again.

Taranee had finally got back to her feet and was rushing over to Will as was Irma; both were worried about her injury as they asked rather loudly. "Are you alright?" Then noticed Will was not bleeding at they checked the spot where Will was hit.

"What the?" A confused Irma said and she moved some of torn fabric of Will's tunic out of the way to see the chain shirt underneath "Is that…" The ranger started to ask when the Passling known as Blunk yelled out, "Mithral! Trade with Blunk for pretty mithral?"

Will still recovering just grumbled out, "Need to keep moving." And started heading up the stairs as the others heard what sounded like a large fight was happening down in the chamber. Most likely the confusion from Taranee's spell had them temporally fighting among them selves. This meant they should do as Will said and keep moving and hope they could meet up with the others and get some distance from here, before the four races could organize them selves again.

Once the reached the top they saw Hay Lin, Cornelia and Elyon waiting for them. "Shouldn't you guys be hiding" Irma said as Taranee started looking through her pockets for something.

Elyon was the first to answer Irma's question, "We wanted to be able to provide cover fire if they were following you, glad to see they are not. What is all that noise though?" The princess asked, hearing the distant sounds of the battle below.

Irma smirked, "Taranee put on a little light show for them and now they are so panicked they are fighting among them selves for the moment." As she said this Taranee found what she was looking for and took out a wand.

Taranee then pointed the wand at the entrance to the stair way and suddenly a large stone slab appeared inside the stairway, just on the other side of the doorframe. "There, that should buy us some time once they get their act together."

Irma looked at Taranee with slight annoyance, "You could not have done that back at the bottom of the stairs because?" This made Taranee back away as she squeaked out, "I…forgot I had that wand."

"How could you forget about something like that? It's not like a lot people carry a wand that can cast the spell Wall of Stone with them every where, you know!" Irma growled out until Will spoke up just loud enough for every one to hear. "We need to keep moving."

With that the half-elf started heading down the hall leaving Irma and Taranee worried and the other girls confused. "Why dose Will look so depressed?" Elyon asked as they watched Will walk away.

Irma thought back to the fight and knew it was two things that had caused Will to become depressed. One was the sword that Susan had given her had been destroyed and Irma knowing how half-elves were treated, getting a present like that was probably very important to Will. The second, and possibly the biggest of the two, was that Will had shown something that she had most likely wanted to be kept hidden, Will was a warlock.

Any one in the group would know what an eldritch blast was if they saw it but Irma knew better than most of the group. After all, the type of ranger she was trained to be was an Arcane Hunter and warlock fell under that category so she knew what Will was the second Will used her powers.

'She probably kept it a secret out of fear of us hating her for it.' Irma thought to her self then answered Elyon's question. "Probably just realizing she took the life of a few Orcs, plus her sword got destroyed in the fight. From what I could tell it was probably a present from Susan so Will's upset she lost it so soon." It was a bit of a white lie but Irma thought it best to wait until they were safely above ground before telling them what really happened.

Unfortunately a very stupid Passling decided to open his mouth, "Why warlock need sword? Warlock's power did better then sword." This made Will freeze in her tracks, now the rest knew her secret and both Irma and Taranee were trying to refrain them selves from murdering the stinky creature.

"Warlock? What warlock? No one here has warlock powers." Hay Lin said in a state of confusion until Cornelia spoke up. "I think it means Will." This was said in tone that indicted a level of fear that every one understood why. Cornelia had been taught by her mother to be wary of all warlocks. But at least she was never encouraged to hate them much to the relief of the other girls.

But before any one could say any thing else a loud bang was heard over where the stone slab was and saw a Bugbear was starting to smash through the obstacle. Out of reflex Will unleashed another blast of eldritch power from both hands but this only wounded the Bugbear, not kill it.

This was because Bugbears possessed much tougher bodies then Orcs but the blast still did major damage. While Will unleashed another blast she yelled out to the others, "Get moving!" The others did as she ordered and started running while Will finished off the Bugbear only to see several Goblins were right behind it. Now that the bigger creature was out of the way they were clawing through the opening most likely to attack the group.

Will did not move though and was unleashing blast after blast, taking down Goblins with single shots but their numbers were getting them closer to attack range. "Will, try following your own advice!" The half-elf heard Irma yelling behind her as the ranger had come to the half-elf's side.

Will's shock at this caused her not to notice that a Goblin was leaping at her but Irma cut it down before it could touch the red headed girl. Irma was not alone as once again Elyon, Taranee and Hay Lin were lined to unleash three Burning Hand spells at the same time.

Irma grabbed Will and pulled her out of the way and the three cone shaped blasts of fire roasted the incoming Goblin army as the flame swept over them. One last enemy, a Hobgoblin, came charging through after the flames had dispersed and was coming at them fast.

Just as Will fired off another eldritch blast to stop it a stream of flames shot past her and hit the Hobgoblin at the same time as the blast. Will looked back to see Cornelia hand was covered in flames.

"Might not be able hit multiple targets like Burning Hands but Produce Flame is still a good spell…Just so you know its going to take a while to get used to the warlock thing, it was kind of sudden you know." The druid said in tone that indicated friendship but the years of built in fear were still present.

The others knew this was still major progress and giggled as Will asked, "You mean none of you hate me?" Which Cornelia answered for the whole group by saying, "Of course not, silly."

The look on the Druid's face turned serious quickly though as she said, "Here they come again!" And with that Cornelia cast a spell called Entangle to make small vines grow out of the stony floor and wrap around the ankles of several Orcs, Goblins and Hobgoblins.

Once again chaos followed and the races present started fight each other as they got in each other's way to break free. It seemed teamwork and cooperation didn't mean much to these races. "We were afraid of these clowns?" Irma said as the group started running down the hallway.

Once they reached a four-way intersection Blunk said, "Follow Blunk! Blunk know secret short cut." And went down the path to the right. The others knew one thing, if a Passling said something like this to you during a crisis it was probably a good idea to listen to it.

The group followed after Blunk but not before Taranee used the wand that could cast Wall of Stone to create another stone barrier to slow the enemy down. Taranee had caught up just in time to see the Passling looking at a dead end as if something was there.

"Some short cut." Irma said in annoyance but then noticed Will walking up to the wall and pushed a spot on the wall and heard click. A section of the wall opened up and every one looked at her. "What? My fault my eyes are good at noticing these things?"

Both Irma and Hay Lin had to admit they heard both Elves and half-elves had this special ability to notice things like hidden switches and such, but never saw it in action until now. 'Wish I had those kind of eyes.' They both thought to them selves as the group entered the passage.

As they entered Blunk closed the passage behind them and traveled the dark hallway with only Cornelia's Produce Flame spell for light. After a few minutes they entered what could easily call a treasure chamber with all the gold, jewels, weapons and armour in the room.

"Where did you get all this you little thief?" Irma said as she looked around the room that got a counter statement from Blunk. "Not thief, businessman! Besides this all here before Blunk was."

"Ya right, you little smuggler." The ranger said as she continued to look around, once again getting another protest. "Discount Importer!"

As Irma looked around she said, "Well if this was all here before you were then it's alright for us to take some of it. Will, lets see if we can get a replacement sword in here for you." She called over her shoulder getting every one's attention, especially Blunk's.

For a moment the Passling looked like he was going to protest but then jumped behind a pile of the loot and started digging around. After few minutes, Blunk popped out the top of a pile like a jack in the box, holding up a single edged long sword much like Will's old one.

He then climbed out of the pile and brought it over to Will holding it out for her to take. "Warlock save Blunk so give this as thanks, please don't let mean boy take Blunk's other treasures." This made the others laugh as Irma let out a feral scream as she chased after the Passling for calling her a boy.

After they calmed Irma down Will drew the sword from the sheath to reveal a mithral blade. "Wow." Will said as she made few gentle swings with the lighter then normal blade. The others were also surprised at the blade as well.

"What is it with you and mithral?" Irma teased making Elyon, Hay Lin and Cornelia look at her as if asking her what she meant. "She says my armour is made of mithral as well, I'm not so sure though. Why would Susan give me something so valuable?" Will said as she sheathed her new weapon.

"Susan probably wanted to make sure you stayed safe so she gave you better then normal armour. It was her who told you to wear it under your shirt though right?" Elyon asked as the girls rested before asking the Passling how this was a short cut in they were in a small chamber with only one entrance.

Will nodded her head yes and realized that must have been why Susan told her to wear it under her clothes so the others did not make a big deal of it or point it out to her. 'But why is she protecting me like this?' The half-elf thought to her self but then got her mind back on getting out of these ruins quickly.

"We need to get going, is there another passage in here Blunk?" Will asked and got a nod from the green creature that then pushed a hidden switch in the wall that lead to small room. In the room was strange circle on the floor that Taranee pointed out was a teleport circle.

Blunk added that it would take them back to the top floor. As they activated the circle they heard the sound of something coming down the hall and saw Goblins entering the treasure chamber. The girls knew the Goblins must have found the switch but fortunately they were already teleporting out of there.

As they appeared in the new circle Blunk screamed out, "My treasures!" This got him a knock over the head from Irma. "Rather be back over a roasting fire?" She reminded him. This knocked some sense back into Blunk but he was still mopping.

They did not stick around for long knowing the Goblins would figure out how to use the circle them selves soon enough. As they re-entered the top floor both Irma and Hay Lin noted it must have been a part of a section they had not been in the first day.

"Looks like I need to make a few changes to my maps." Hay Lin said as they started to move again as they watched Blunk move to avoid activating any new traps that where on this route. The others knew the rouge/wizard was only joking but she seemed to lack Irma's knack for it during tight spots.

They thought they were home free until a large group of Orcs and Hobgoblins lead by a Bugbear blocking the path out of the ruins. Behind them the Goblins from earlier was coming up behind them leaving the group caught in the middle.

Will quickly came up with a plan to get them out of this mess and said to the group. "Okay, Elyon, Taranee, and Hay Lin clear us a way to the exit with the usual formation. Cornelia, you and Snowflake back them up. Irma, you and me will have to deal with the Goblins." This shocked every one how Will took charge, but they had to admit she did have battle plan that could work.

Will and Irma got ready to fight the Goblin army waiting for the charge. Both girls kept enough distance apart to fight freely but still close enough to block the Goblins from attacking the others.

The Goblins on the other hand were not looking for an up and close battle and opted for a range one as they starting firing arrows or launching small stones from sling shots at them. Will countered by firing back with her eldritch blasts, making them stop after several of them fell to the energy attacks.

The Goblins were forced to move into close range and try to swarm the two warriors but the Goblins were strong in numbers, but not in body and the hallway made it impossible for more than three or four to fight at a time. This made it easy for Irma and Will to cut them down quickly.

While they dealt with the Goblins the magic users were performing their combined Burning Hands spell to clear a path but there were too many. All the waves of fire did was keep the enemy at bay and Taranee was already running low on magic from her earlier exploits.

Will and Irma could not help them because every time they got rid of one group of Goblins another came up to take it's place. From some of the injuries a few had, it showed that they were not taking the time to avoid the traps further back, meaning enough of them where charging ahead that the traps could not kill them all.

"Irma, this is not good, at this rate they will over run us with sheer numbers once the others run out of magic." Will said, getting a grim nod from the ranger. "Ya, if the others don't bust us through soon, we're toast!" Irma replied, as she fought the Goblins horde.

The two kept fighting the Goblins until one dove at Will with a knife and struck Will in the left shoulder. This one must have been a stronger then normal Goblin because the knife managed to penetrate Will's mithral chain shirt making Will let out a scream of pain.

Irma, in a fury let a feral scream and cut the Goblin down before it could enjoy its small victory. The other Goblins started to shake with fear as the ranger turned her rage on them and started cutting them down in a flurry of slashes from her double-bladed sword.

The others looked back to see Will was hurt but could not stop their attack or they would be attacked by the second group of enemies. But both Taranee and Hay Lin suddenly dropped to their knees showing they had both run out magic.

Taranee had higher reserves then Hay Lin because her sole focus on wizardry while Hay Lin was trained in two classes so she ran out magic more quickly. But those two second grade spells from earlier had finally taken their toll on the more powerful wizard and now only Elyon could hold off the enemy.

Elyon had even higher reserves then Taranee due to her being a Gifted with both Cleric and Sorcerer classes but even she would reach her limit soon. Cornelia tried to help but all of her combat based spell were single targets only and not of much help.

Will had sheathed her sword and was using her one good arm to fire eldritch blasts at the Goblins while Irma cut them down but it was starting to look bad for the group. Elyon and Cornelia were both running low on magic. Taranee and Hay Lin completely empty and would be forced to fight in melee combat soon which was not their strong point. Irma was fighting against the Goblins with only Will to offer some level of support with her blasts.

The only ones not fighting were Irma's hawk, Taranee's owl, Hay Lin's cat, Snowflake and Blunk. The first three would have been of no use in this, while the large white tiger had to wait for the soon to come melee battle and Blunk being a Passling was not much of a warrior.

'So this is how it ends huh? Being killed by a bunch of smelly, ugly creatures and failing to protect my first real friends my own age? I got us into this mess and now they are going to pay for it." Will thought to her self bitterly. Susan, Sade, Abele and Yan Lin along with rest of the others girls' families will probably be out of their mind with rage at her if they find out it was her fault trying to pull of the insane rescue attempt. They would probably never know though, not unless there was spell to see into the past because none of the group was going to live to tell the tale.

Just as things looked their bleakest though, it seemed fate had other plans in store for the six girls. The blast of another Burning Hands spell swept over Orcs, Hobgoblins, and Bugbears from where the exit/entrance to the ruins would be.

Then as if to add even more hope to the girls a loud, deep voice yelled, "CHARGE!" Then a man in his mid thirties with long shaggy hair and beard dressed in half-plate armour and wielding a bastard sword dove into the enemy cutting them down with ease. A bastard sword was a bigger version of long sword and if one had special training could wield it in one had just as easily as its smaller counter part and this man showed he had such training.

Right after the man charged in a large blue creature joined it wielding a massive great axe and also dressed in half plate armour and letting out a loud battle cry as it started hacking away at the enemy. Every one but Will and Blunk instantly recognized these two, "Sir Vathek! Sir Julian!" Elyon cried out at the sight of the two warriors.

A few moments after the princess cried this out, four more joined the battle but were much younger, each were about 15 years old. But instead of joining the fight with the older men these four were joining the fight against the Goblins. The first was an Elf who was letting loose a flurry of arrows that struck down several of the small creatures while easily keeping Irma out the path of the deadly projectiles.

The Elf had a strangely greyish tone to his skin and was bald and was dressed in a purple tunic and gray pants and it seem he was of the ranger class. Irma looked back to yell out in joking tone, "Aldarn, you show off!"

This got her a grin from the Elvin ranger as the other three shot past him to dive into the fray along side Irma. The first was a boy with shoulder length reddish brown hair, brown eyes and was wearing leather armour and wielding an Orc Double-Axe, an axe version of a double bladed sword.

"Nigel?!" Taranee gasped in shock as the boy shot past her giving a grin before he started slaughtering the Goblins with speed and power greater then that of Irma's abilities.

The next one was a boy with black hair, blue eyes and dressed in a bright red and green coloured tunic and pants. On his back was a lute and he was wielding a long sword against the Goblins with moderate ease. All these marked him as a member of the Bard class, but did not look like he was going to make use of his music magic for a while due to the intense battle ahead of him.

The last one was boy with brown messy hair and green eyes and was dressed in a brown trench coat, white shirt, brown pants and brown leather boots. On his back was the sheath to the bastard sword he was wielding in his hands right now and cut down foe after foe.

"Ah! It's getting crowded in here!" Irma yelled out as she started having trouble attacking with three new comers joining the battle. "That's why we are falling back. Matt, Nigel and Aldarn, cover me while I get Princess Elyon and her friends out of here. Irma, go get the others. I'll help the red head." The one in the trench coat ordered.

This got a nod of acceptance from Aldarn and Nigel but the bard who Will assumed was Matt spoke up, "No fair you get to save the pretty one while we have to fight these ugly things." This made the two others boys laugh and Will blush a deep red at the comment.

Caleb ignored the comment but Irma continued the torment as she added, "Careful Caleb, you don't want Lady Susan to get the wrong idea that you're flirting with her favourite servant." This made Will blush even deeper and make her become light headed.

Caleb shot a glare at Irma that said, 'Just go get the others.' Then swept Will off her feet and carried her bridal style out of the ruins. Will all the while was trying to keep from fainting knowing Irma would have a field day if that happened.

As the girls made their way out side with Will in Caleb's arms the other three boys and the two older warriors followed after them. Once out side Caleb put Will down and stood in front of the passage. He then let loose a Burning Hands spell to incarcerate any of Goblins, Hobgoblins, Orc and Bugbears stupid enough to have followed them. Right after he was done Taranee used the last bit of magic that was in the wand to create another wall of stone to seal of the entrance/exit. Just to be safe though Vathek pushed a massive boulder right in front of the stonewall using almost inhuman strength to do so.

"That was way to close." Taranee said getting a groan of agreement from the others girls. Caleb had once again picked up Will and took her to the shade of a near by tree followed by the one Elyon called Julian. Once Will was placed in the shade of the tree she tried to pull the knife that was still in her shoulder out but was stopped by Julian. "Lets me do that, Aldarn bring over some of your bandages and herbs would you?" He called over to the Elf.

Once Aldarn had come over they gave Will a piece of leather to bite down on then pulled out the dagger. Will let out muffled scream of pain as they did so, then started to carefully remove her tunic and armour.

As Julian treated Will's injured shoulder Aldarn examined the knife and said, "Yup, normal Goblin fever inducing poison coating the blade. Nothing lethal it should wear off in few hours, especially with those herbs to help lesson the effects." The Elvin ranger said to Julian and Caleb.

Will had stiffened a bit when she heard the word poison but once she knew it was not lethal she felt better. Until the first signs of the poison kicked and made her start to feel ill. Julian stayed by Will's side while Caleb took off his trench coat and used it as a blanket to keep Will warm.

Julian then asked the girls to explain what happened. Once they were finished explaining Will managed weakly to speak up before Julian could respond "My fault…not theirs…punish…me…not…them." She said in the others defence. Will was starting to feel very weak because of the poison but like Aldarn had said it would only maker her ill for a few hours, nothing more.

Before the other girls could protest Will's words Julian signalled them to be silent for him to speak. "No, you did the right thing. In theory you did not do what you were told but if you did not then a certain little smuggler…" he started to say when a certain Passling yelled out, "Whole Saler!"

"…would be dead but it is up to your families, or in Will's case her care taker, to make the decision if any of you are to punished, not me." Julian finished as he ignored Blunk's protest like every one else did.

Once that was said Caleb went to stand guard with Vathek near the boulder just to make sure the ones sealed behind it did not try to dig them selves out. Before he got half way there Cornelia had ran up and wrapped her arms around him followed by a kiss right on the lips.

"Get a room!" Irma yelled at them, as Caleb broke free of the kiss staring at Cornelia in shock. When Caleb finally found his voice again he starts to say, "Lady Hale, what are…" But was cut off by a finger being placed on his lips.

"It is only fitting the brave knight gets a kiss from the damsel he rescued." The noble blooded druid said. This, of course, had Irma jumping in again with another comment. "So why is it that you and not Will that gets to kiss him then?"

This had Elyon, Hay Lin and Taranee giggle at this while Cornelia was glaring at Irma. Will on the other hand was looking downward as she thought to her self, 'Why would he want a kiss from me any way? I'm just an ugly half-elf warlock while Cornelia is of noble blood and prettier then me.'

Julian who was still sitting next to Will and could see the look of sadness on the girls face as she watched Cornelia flirt with Caleb, 'Ah, my son has yet another admirer. Wonder how long before he notices this young girl.' The man thought to him self.

Julian then pulled Will closer to him snapping her out of her train of thought as he said, "Rest, it will help you recover more quickly." He instructed. It did not take long for Will to do so in her worn out and weakened state and was soon sound asleep resting against Julian's shoulder.

An hour later Susan, Sade, Abele and Yan Lin teleported into the area to see the girls scattered around the area. Susan also noticed Will was lying against Julian and saw Will's armour was laying on the ground with dried blood covering the spot wear the knife hit.

The Elvin woman in a panic rushed over to Will's side while Sade started demanding answers. Julian retold the story and the four woman seemed to be a little upset but at the same time proud of the girls for their actions.

In Susan's case it was more pride and concern for her young charge. She was glad that Will not only managed to reveal her powers to the others, she also showed she had gained some level of confidence during the trip. The fact she was able to speak her mind enough to lead the girls on this little rescue mission was proof of that. 'Rest well Will, you have earned it.' Susan thought to her self as they all gathered around to teleport back to Susan's castle.

After they had left a shadowy figure in a pitch black cloak with the hood hiding his face appeared from his hiding spot among the trees about 20 feet away from were the group had been. If someone was around to see him they would heard him growl out. "I have finally found the little brat only to see she has found her way into the care of that woman." The man said, clenching his fists in anger.

"To make matters worse, those girls have ruined the plan of his highness by finding those stupid creatures already before they could launch even one attack. I better report back to his highness and alert him of this little mess. He will not be pleased to find that our plans will be pushed back several more months." The man added in another growled tone of voice as he held up his hand to activate the ring on his finger and teleport away.

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And there you go. Next chapter will be out next Monday.


	10. Love and Politics

Here is the next chapter, its a bit smaller then normal and not as exciting as the last two chapters, bit I hope you like.

I would like to thank Wilhelmina Vandom and Ice Queen of Candracar for betaing this and I would like to thank Wilhelmina Vandom, Darkness-Lightness, The Crazy Talk Kid for reviewing.

Also would like to say I don't own D&D or W.I.T.C.H.. Now on with the fic!

Chapter 9: Love and Politics

It was the next morning when Will woke up to find she was in her bed with Susan sitting in a chair watching over her. Will confused at how she got here tried to sit up bit a sharp pain in her shoulder made her fall back down onto the mattress.

Susan gave the girl a gentle smile as she said, "You should take it easy your injured remember?" The Elvin woman said as she reached down to pick up the sword Blunk had given Will.

Susan drew the blade and inspected it and said "A very nice souvenir to remember your trip with. Even better then one I gave you." she commented as she admired the weapon but then noticed Will just looked down sadly.

Susan worried that something she was about to ask when Will spoke first, "I'm sorry." Then her eyes started swell with tears though Will was not out right crying, at least not yet any way.

Susan confused at what Will said asked, "For what?" This made Will turn her head away from Susan as she said "For breaking the sword you gave me, for putting the others in danger and…" The rest of Will's rant was ended by her breaking down in tears.

Susan now understood what was bothering Will, she felt that she was going to be yelled at and punished for what happened, thinking every thing that happened was her fault. Susan knew Will's life as a street urchin probably was to blame for this belief, most likely due to people accusing her for any thing bad that happened and she was near by.

Julian had told Susan that he had made it quite clear to the girls, that despite taking on a task like the rescue mission and breaking rules Susan and Sade had made, it was still the right thing to do. Though of course, Julian also made it clear that there might still be punishments given to them because their families might be less than happy with their action.

But the girls knew that he would put in a few good words in for them with their families to help soften any punishments given. This was mainly due to the fact that Julian was a Royal Knight like Susan so that gave the girls a small level of protection from angry parents.

Will on the other hand did not know any of this and out of habit was trying to brace her self for what she thought would be a severe punishment for what happened. To help calm and comfort the young half-elf Susan gently stroked Will's arm hopping the gesture would work.

After a while Will finally calmed down enough to look back at Susan's smiling face allowing the woman to finally speak. "Will, you need to know a few things, the first of being is that I am very proud of you." This defiantly got the young girl's attention and waited to hear more.

"What you did was dangerous and I would have preferred you not taking on such a massive force but if you did not then a…Supposedly innocent creature would have most likely been killed." Susan had actually grilled the Passling to find out how he had gotten into that mess to begin with.

Blunk had apparently had been 'trading' the more stupid members of the mixed group of four evil races and had managed to get a great deal of the Bugbears' horde. Bugbears were attracted to things like food and treasure and were very good at getting both.

Eventually one of the leaders of the Bugbear tribe had found out about this and had the Passling captured. When Blunk failed to tell them were the items he 'traded' for were they decided to eat him.

Susan got her mind off that train of thought and went back to reassuring Will she was not in trouble. "Also Will, I am glad to see you were able to put aside your fear of being rejected for your warlock powers and used them to save Taranee. If you had not, those Orcs would have most likely have over powered the three of you and killed you." Susan said before adding, "I told you they would accept you." This was meant to be small joke but Will looked a little ashamed at not trusting Susan earlier.

"Now none of that, despite that I said you should trust them you have had every right to be afraid. Up until a month ago you lived a life of fear and ridicule and I should have known you would be scared of it happening again." Susan said gently trying to reverse the damage she had done with her little joke.

Susan then took out a handkerchief and wiped away some of the tears on Will face then started speaking again. "Now why don't we go get you dressed and we go have breakfast with the others?" This got a nod from Will, so Susan helped the half-elf girl to her feet.

It was hard to get Will's tunic on with her shoulder injury but they managed after a few tries. After that was done Susan walked Will down where the others were just sitting down to eat.

Will noticed that the boys from yesterday were at the table as well. Will had a slight blush on her face as she looked at Caleb remembering how he carried her out of the ruins. This slight blush had not gone unnoticed by Susan who saw who her young student was looking at.

Susan had mixed feelings about her student having a crush on the son of her two friends. On the negative side it might cause a bit of a problem between Will and Cornelia, seeing how the blonde druid also held a bit of a crush on the young man as well. But on the positive side, if any one were to court her student, Caleb would be one of Susan's personal preferences. Not that Susan was in any rush to let Will go courting at such a young age mind you.

Sade who was watching from her seat at the table was the only one to notice the two so far, could tell from the expressions on their faces and the direction of their gazes what was going on. 'Ah, young love and the over protective parent…Or it would if Susan would stop being so stubborn and adopt the poor girl already.' the Queen thought to her self.

"And they finally join us I see." Abele said as she noticed Sade was looking at something and saw both Susan and Will. Abele also guessed what was going on and found the idea interesting. 'That boy of mine always getting girls swooning over him and he is not even intending to do that. I swear he is too much like his father was at that age.' The powerful sorceress thought to her self as every one turned their attention to the new arrivals.

The other girls were showing signs of relief at the sight of their friend now up and about. "Lazy bum, sleeping through the integration like that." Irma joked, making the other girls cringe at the memory of Sade and Yan Lin's wave after wave of questions. Yan Lin was strictly about what happened to her granddaughter but Sade was asking as both a mother and a ruler.

So in theory they were grilled by three people seeing how Sade needed to know every detail for when she sent as her soldiers to finish off the rest of the creatures in the ruins. That also had Hay Lin busy making sure of every detail of the maps she had made were accurate so Sade could have her soldiers use then in the attack. They would greatly help speed up the task if her men knew of the direct routes through the ruins and they would only need to explore the areas the girls had not done.

Will knew it was better she did not ask what Irma meant by that wise crack and went to sit down. The food that was served was the same as the day they had left to explore the ruins and that was good in Will's opinion because she was hungry. Having slept all through yesterday after noon and all the way through to this morning meant she had not eaten since breakfast yesterday.

Will did eat more slowly then normal though to Susan's surprise until the Elvin woman remembered that a certain young man was in the room. It was simple to guess Will was trying to not look like a pig in front of her crush.

Though it seemed that while Will had an attraction to Caleb, it seemed that Will had an admirer of her own. Susan noticed that Matt was taking glances at Will that where completely unnoticed by said half-elf.

This did partially concern Susan because of the potential problems this could cause. Matt's family, the Olsen family, was a very influential one and was of the nobility. If Matt's affection for Will were strong enough he might openly challenge Caleb to prove he was the better man even if Caleb showed no interest in Will.

Caleb was a proud young man and would answer any challenge and would try to win. Or at least he would until he found out why, then he might go as far as to make Matt look better then him to help his friend and discourage Will's affection. This of course would only happen as long as Caleb did not take interest in the young half-elf. If he did then that was where the trouble would begin.

The Russell family was also a highly respected one as well, even before Julian had earned the title of Royal Knight. This meant that if the two future heads of these two families were to compete for the affection of one girl it could lead to major problems.

This was mainly due to Will's two major attributes; the first was her being a half-elf. Both families were one of the few who were openly against racial crimes but if Caleb and Matt were to compete against each other the nobles that where against the mixed race would take advantage of it. They would say it only proved that half-elves were trouble and fan even more hatred among the masses.

The second attribute was that Will was a warlock, another thing the nobles who disliked Will would use against her. They would say she used her 'dark magic' to cause a rift between the two families by making the two boys become smitten with her.

Of course Susan knew Will would have more trouble then a normal person when it came to things like this. But that was why Susan was in charge of looking after Will so she could act as a buffer for these problems and provide support and guidance when necessary.

After every one had finished eating the other girls went about getting ready for the trip back to each of their own homes. Yan Lin, Hay Lin and Irma would be dropped off at the forest village they lived in while the rest would return to the capital.

As the last of the things were being loaded on to the carriages Will noticed Taranee and Nigel constantly glancing back at each other with slight blushes on their faces, yet keeping their distance from each other. Irma and Hay Lin had looks of mischief on their faces that only meant something very entertaining was about to happen.

They waited until Taranee was heading to one of the carriages with Nigel some few feet behind her and put their plan into action. Hay Lin threw a single large marble into Taranee's path and once the wizard stepped on it she slipped. She was in mid air until some one caught her just in time to avoid hitting the ground.

That person was of course Nigel and as he looked down at the blushing wizard in his arms he was about to ask if she was all right until Irma stepped in for her part in the plan. She came up behind Nigel and pushed his face into Taranee's making the twos' lips meet.

The friends of the pair were cheering at the scene, or at least until the two locked eyes on Irma and Hay Lin. "Uh Oh." they said at the same time. "Ya." Taranee said as she got to her feet. Nigel finished what Taranee started by adding, "Big Uh Oh!"

This had the two girls running from the wizard and the boy with the Orc-double axe. The only reason the two lived was because the adults put an end to the chase before the two culprits were caught.

After things calmed down Will asked Susan, "Why do Taranee and Nigel seem to keep their distance from each other? They both seem to know they like each other." This got Will a sad smile from the Elvin woman.

"You know what Paladins and Barbarians are right?" Susan asked making Will think back to some of the books she read about other classes.

Paladins were to Clerics as Rangers were to Druids. Paladins were a complete warrior version of the cleric and had less magic then clerics because of this but they still had access to divine power nonetheless. They were also strict believers in good, justice and order. They did not tolerate any one who committed evil acts or break the law. This made them somewhat close-minded and overly strict at times.

Barbarians on the other hand were a warrior type class that used a powerful rage they could call on to give them a massive increase in strength and stamina during battle. They were also a rather free spirited and at times wild lot. In a way they were the Paladins' opposite and tended to clash because of it.

"Ya, I know about them, why?" Will asked, wondering what this had to do with Taranee and Nigel avoiding each other.

Susan looked off in the distance as she answered, "Nigel is a Barbarian and Taranee's mother is a Paladin." This made everything click into place in Will's mind. Taranee's mother did not approve of Nigel and Taranee being together so they try to keep their distance, for now at least.

"That's not fair." Will said getting a nod from Susan before she said, "Yes it is, unfortunately as you know from personal experience many things in life are not fair."

Will looked down with fists tightly clenched, as she said in low tone. "Still does not excuse the fact." This statement made Susan smile approvingly at her young charge.

"You're right; don't you think the same applies to you as well?" This made Will look up at Susan in confusion. "You seem to have accepted what the majority say that there is something wrong with you when it's the other way around, don't you think?"

Will looked away now, having an aura of depression instead of rightful anger. "That different." This had Will grabbed by the shoulders by Susan and forced to look the Elvin woman in the eyes.

"There is no difference Will, that is just years of ingrained thinking from countless idiots talking and the sooner you realize that the better." Susan said forcefully, then pulled Will into a hug. "But that's why you're here, isn't it? So that you can have the chance to realize that." Susan whispered into Will ear.

All of a sudden the two heard a loud, "Aaahhh." This made the two break the hug to see that every one was watching the scene making the two blush from embarrassment.

This was when Irma yelled, "Don't do that! Hay Lin did not get a chance to draw that scene yet!" Which had the wizard/rouge digging through her recently packed bag for some paper, ink and something to draw with.

Both of Will's hands were quickly being engulfed in pink and red energy while Susan sparks of electricity gather in one of her hands. This was the two's way of saying knock it off or face the dire consequences, which made every one obey rather quickly.

A few minutes later the last preparations were done and all of Will's new friends were leaving as she sadly waved good bye. The only ones who had remained were Julian and Abele, the rest of the group of males had gone as an escort for the others.

They had stayed behind because Julian wanted to discuss something with Susan and Abele could simply teleport her husband home after he was done. Susan had ordered Will to go back to bed and rest just to help speed up the healing process of her shoulder.

After Will had left Susan lead Julian and his family to an office Susan used when discussing/arguing with the local nobles who come to see her every so often.

The office was a rather simple one; the carpet was green with white walls with large window over looking the courtyard below on the wall closest to the back of the room. The only furniture was a large oak desk with one chair for Susan to sit in and two chairs in front of it for those who had come to see her could sit.

Susan sat behind the desk while Julian and Abele sat in the ones in front of it. Once they were comfortable Susan asked, "What did you wish to talk about Julian?"

Julian smiled at Susan with a hint of mischief in his eyes as he spoke. "Well, it's nothing serious just a little invitation to something that will help you with your plans for Will." This had come as a surprise to Susan but it seemed from how Abele was smiling as well that it seemed the two were in this together.

Once Susan had found her voice again she asked, "What do you mean exactly by helping me with my plans for Will?" There was a bit of wariness in tone, both of her friends knew it was due to her protectiveness of said half-elf.

Abele was the one to answer Susan's question, "We both know your trying to bring the girl out of her shell and the trip with the girls was a good first step but now the girls have gone back home. As we see it, to keep up this process you need to keep her in regular contact with the other girls." The sorceress said, then gave Susan a moment to think this statement over.

Susan knew what they were saying was true, after all to fully break Will out of her shell she needed regular and frequent contact with those she now called friends. After a few more moments Susan asked, "What do you have in mind exactly?"

"Quite simply we have Will come with me, Caleb and Aldarn for some hunting out in the forest where Irma and Hay Lin live. We did not get done on our last one and we can ask Irma and Hay Lin to be our guides for the trip. It would give a chance for Will to be with her friends while officially you could say she is learning valuable skills that will make her better able to do other tasks in your service." Julian explained to Susan.

Susan had to admit the idea was a good one. Will would benefit from having her friends around and learning some of the things Julian could teach her. When Julian went on hunts he and his group always tried to take the bare essentials and made use of basic survival skills for any thing else they would need.

After few minutes of silence Susan finally answered, "Alright, when is the trip?"

Julian thought for moment, "Well, I was thinking about a week from now but with Will's injury it might be better to delay it for a bit more than that." After saying this Julian was surprised Susan was shaking her head no.

"She will be ready by next week, I'll just give her some special herds to apply to the wound and after a day of rest she will be back to full strength. That will give me time to teach Will basic archery and horse back riding." Susan explained to Julian who agreed with this plan but noticed Susan had something else to say.

He could tell because Susan was eyeing him and Abele. "Now what are your other reasons to have Will on this trip?" she asked in an accusing tone. The two knew they had been found out, no big surprise actually due to Susan being very difficult to deceive.

Abele was the one to answers this question seeing how this was her half of the scheme. "Well, while Julian wanted to help Will break out of her shell I found it also helped with something I want to happen."

After a moment of silence Susan realized what Abele wanted. "Caleb, you want Will close to Caleb…Mind explaining why you're playing match maker?" Susan said with a bit of an icy tone to it. As Julian guessed Susan was already getting defensive, not a big surprise seeing how Will was in the middle of all this.

Abele held her hand in front of her to signal she meant to no harm and signal Susan to calm down. "Its quite simple actually, I like the girl and prefer her over many other girls who lobby for the attention of my son. Cornelia is one of the better ones but Will has a spark to her that I think will make her good for my boy. She might even be a catalyst for some changes that will help both half-elves and warlocks in the future."

Susan had admit that was a tempting thought but she did not like the idea of Will being in the middle of political battle that has been happening for years. "I don't like the idea of Will being used as a figurehead but I'll make you a deal. We will let them decide if they take a mutual interest in each other then we will support them, if not then we will not force them. Agreed?" Susan said as she held out her hand to Abele.

This was rather unusual thing for most normal members of the nobility to do but neither of these two women were normal nobles. Susan was just exploring human lands wanting to get out and see the world. But during her travels she got caught up in a string of events that got her asked to join the Royal Knights.

Abele on the other hand, was a protector of magic artefacts, who one day found an injured Julian near the entrance to the ruins where she lived back in their youth. She nursed him back to health and fell in love in the process.

Nether woman believed in arranged marriages and this was as close as either woman would come to it as Abele answered, "Agreed." And shook hands with Susan sealing the deal.

Julian, on the other hand, was shaking his head at what had taken place. "I pity those two poor children with you two now on the prowl." This got him smacked in the back of the head from his wife and a giggle from Susan at the man's jest.

After that the two left and Susan went to go check on Will after getting the herbs and fresh change of bandages. When she knocked on Will's door she heard a strained reply of, "Come in." Making the Elvin woman grow concerned as she quickly entered.

Susan quickly figured out why Will sounded like she was in pain as she saw the signs that Will had tried to change her self back into her pajamas. This was not something done so easily with Will's injured shoulder. It looked like Will had just finished removing her cloths and was trying to wait until the pain stopped and get her energy back to put on her sleeping clothes.

Susan mentally scolded her self for not thinking of this before she sent Will back to her room to rest as she went over to check on her worn out charge. Susan saw only a little blood was staining the bandages so Will probably did not reopen the wound too much to Susan's relief.

As Susan unwrapped the bandages she said, "I guess this will help for when I apply some herbs to the wound but why did you keep trying to take your cloths off if it hurt so much?" She asked with a great concern in her voice.

"I have been used to doing things in pain before, so I thought I could do it on my own." Will said with bit of fear in voice, most likely worried about Susan being mad at her. The fears were quickly squashed when the Elvin woman looked the half-elf in the eyes and stroked the side of the girl's face.

"You're too stubborn for your own good Will. Remember, you don't live like that any more." Susan said with gentle smile on her face and started to carefully apply the special herbs. Will winced as the healing substance was added to the injury since it stung like a swarm of bees.

This got a sympathetic smile from Susan as she said, "I know the feeling, trust me the results are worth the pain." After that was done Susan wrapped the shoulder up with the new bandages and then helped Will finish getting into her pajamas.

After Will was in bed Susan told her she was to be confined to bed tomorrow saying the herbs would have the injury healed by the end of the tomorrow, but only if Will rested.

The way Susan said it was making it clear that if Will did any thing other wise, there would be consequences. Will did the only thing she could do and nodded timidly that she understood.

After that Susan left to let Will rest, satisfied that the girl would behave and do as she was told. Once Susan was in her own room the Elvin woman planned on what to do over the next few days.

Sade had said she would send extra troops to help deal with the creatures still in the ruins but until then Susan's had only the ones posted in the area. Fortunately many adventures had volunteered to assist in keeping the four races contained until help could arrive.

Sade wanted to make sure a massive blow was delivered to this small army so it would be crippled and unable to do whatever attacks it had been planning. A month ago Susan would have been able to personally lead the troops into the ruins and wipe them out, but both she and Sade knew Susan needed to focus on Will right now and watch over the young girl. There were probably many who would take advantage of Susan being away and go after Will in one form or another.

Besides, Susan knew she could join the mission once Will had left on the hunting trip with Julian. Until then Susan would just have to sit tight and wait a week.

The only thing that Susan really had to worry about was what to do to keep Will from getting fidgety during her day of rest. Will was too used to doing something to just lie down all day. Susan would probably just have give the girl a large stack of books to read and pray it would help.

Personally Susan could sympathize since she was the same way at times. Part of Susan considered drugging the girl into sleeping the day away but Will would never forgive her if the half-elf ever found out.

Susan decided to worry about it tomorrow and went about dealing with other duties she needed to do before calling it a day. These mainly were getting ready for the soon to be coming nobles demanding to know everything about the crisis in the ruins. Not something Susan was looking forward to.

'Mental note, once Will is gone on trip make sure to take my time with those Goblins, Hobgoblins, Bugbears and Orcs. They made Will suffer by wounding her and made me suffer by making me listen to more complaints. They must pay.' Susan thought to her self as she headed for her office again.

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There you go. Please read and review, the next one should be out in a week.


	11. The Hunting Trip

Here is the next chapter of Shunned One and would like to thanks Wilhelmina Vandom & Ice Queen of Candracar for betaing this fic.

Would also like to thank Wilhelmina Vandom, KnightofFaerun, GuyverZero, Lisifa, The Crazy Talk Kid, Darkness-Lightness for reviewing. Thanks for all the support!

Disclaimer: Don't own W.I.T.C.H. or D&D. Now on with the story!

Chapter 10: The Hunting Trip

A week later things were back to normal for Susan and Will. Right now Susan was watching as Will was practicing her archery while they waited for Julian and his group to arrive. Susan mind was not entirely focused on the practice though as she thought back to earlier in the week.

Will's day of being confined to bed was not as bad as Susan had thought. Will, for the most part, enjoyed being able to sleep in for a change but she was still bit bored by the end of the day.

Susan on the other hand had as bad a day as she though she would. The local nobles had finally gotten word of soldiers heading for the ruins and were demanding to know all the details. Susan had explained a group of adventures found the army of the four races while exploring the ruins.

While this was partially true Susan clearly left out who the group was. She knew the nobles would throw a fit if they found out the heir to the throne had been involved in the discovery. That would only make them bring up an old issue many nobles had been using for years about Elyon's choice of friends.

Many of the higher-class citizens of the kingdom did not approve of those their princess associated with. They accepted Cornelia due to her being of noble blood so they believed the druid was worthy of associating with Elyon in their eyes.

Taranee was accepted to a degree, but this was because of two things. One, despite Taranee's family not having a high social rank, it was a respected one because of her parents' careers. Taranee's mother being a Paladin made an excellent judge, except when it came to Nigel of course, and her father was a lawyer. Both were very good at their jobs and thus had the respect of many in the Meridian legal system.

The second reason for the nobility to not mind Taranee too much was because of the girl's own achievements. Taranee was a very smart girl with a thirst for knowledge that very few had and with it got her way into the very best magic and academic academy in the capital. Hard to argue that the princess having a genius for a friend is bad, even if said genius was of common blood.

It was the last two members of the group that the nobles disagreed with, three if you counted Will. Both Irma and Hay Lin were commoners but unlike Taranee had nothing that made them worthy of associating with royalty in those fools eyes.

Irma was just the daughter of a member of the village militia and a rouge of a small guild. Nothing really out standing from those who believed social status was what determined a persons worth.

Hay Lin was even worse off because she was the granddaughter of Yan Lin. Yan Lin was once part of a once famous group of female adventures that had accomplished many things other groups only dreamed of achieving.

Normally this would be a good thing but Yan Lin back in her youth often told the more stuck up nobles to go blow their hot air some were else. This pretty much cursed Hay Lin for having blood ties to a woman who offended many of the higher crust.

Sade did not stand for any of this, of course, but it still did not stop the nobles from using the complaint when ever possible. They would most likely blame Irma and Hay Lin for risking the princess and who knows what they would come up with if they knew Will was there as well.

Susan shook off those thoughts knowing she needed to focus on Will's lesson right now. While Will had good aim she showed she did not favour using a bow that much. For the most part that was fine since Will was being trained for melee and magic combat, not to be a master archer.

Susan was still glad Will was willing to learn the basics though. It was always good to know the basic use of a long-range weapon like the longbow especially, for magic users. You never know if you'll run low on magic or an enemy had defences against magic so knowing how to use a ranged weapon would be useful.

The one thing Will did excel at during the week of training was riding. Will seemed to have a knack with animals and enjoyed riding. Susan had to admit she was glad she found out about this ability of her student.

Since Will liked animals so much and showed interest in the caring of the horses it meant Susan had new tasks she could give to Will that the young girl would enjoy. She wanted Will to learn other things besides ones that directly involved combat or survival.

A few minutes and several arrows later a servant came and told them Julian had arrived. This made the two wrap up the lesson and head out to meet him. Will had all the same things as she had when she went to the ruins with the exception of the longbow and the arrow quiver she now carried.

Will found it strange that Susan asked her to wear her armour and bring her sword when it was just a hunting trip until Susan explained the reason. There was always a chance of things like bandits or monsters being in the woods so it was always best to have regular weapons and armour as a precaution.

As they arrived in the courtyard Will had to suppress the urge to blush as she saw Caleb. Susan smiled knowing the young girl too well. 'He has not even looked in her direction yet and is affecting her so strongly.' The Elvin woman mused as they approached the group.

Julian greeted the two with a friendly smile as a horse was brought over by Caleb for Will to ride. Will had to use even more effort to keep her face from going red, but had only managed to keep it a light shade of pink.

Caleb did not notice the slight blush much to Will's relief. Not that she believed he would pay much attention to a half-elf commoner like her, or that's what she thought any way. Unknown to her he did have some interest though he did not know if it was any sort of affection but he did know he was curios about the red head.

But he put curiosity aside as he watched Will mount the horse then went back to his own. Once every one was ready to head out Susan spoke to Julian, "I'll be heading for the ruins to help with the attack. Unless I send word that I am finished there please take Will back to the capital with you."

Julian nodded that he would, knowing Susan wanted Will to have some one watching out for her while Susan was away. Will on the other hand looked up in worry at the thought of Susan going up against those things in the ruins.

Caleb noticing this put his hand on Will's shoulder and said, "Don't worry, Lady Vandom has so much skill with both sword and magic that I bet she will be back before we got our first kill." He said reassuring Will of her teacher's skills.

Susan laughed at this statement "Well, I hope it's not that quick, it's been a while since I have been able let loose some of my more powerful spells and I don't want to run out of targets too quickly." This got every one else laughing too, expect for Will who was still concerned.

Susan noticed and gave the girl a reassuring smile. "Will, I'll be fine, I have dealt with bigger problems with smaller groups at my side and this time I have a small army watching my back. You just relax and pay attention to what Julian teaches you on the trip, okay?" This made Will give the elvin woman a reluctant nod of acceptance.

With that the group headed out on a four-day ride for the forest village where Hay Lin and Irma lived. During the way there Julian gave Will the lecture portion of what he would teach Will.

He mostly explained the how to tell what was edible in the forest while using a small hand book that showed a drawing of the plant being talked about. He could only do so much while riding but he wanted to get the little things out of the way before they got there.

This way Will would just have the stuff she could just watch and learn once they were in the forest for the rest of the stuff. But for now he would just make sure she knew as much as he could teach her before then.

Besides the minor lessons from Julian on edible plants and how to start a fire, the journey was uneventful. When they arrived at the forest village Will saw a wall of wooden logs that surrounded it. This was most likely to keep out the more dangerous animals that lived deep in the woods.

The large wooden gate that served as the entrance to the village opened as they approached but Will was more focused in the archers that were standing watch with arrows ready to fire. This made Will nervous which Julian noticed and said, "Don't worry, they are just making sure nothing tries to enter village besides us, you can't be too careful out here"

Will looked back at him and asked nervously, "Do I really want to know what has them so worried?"

Julian was about answer when Caleb and Aldarn spoke up, "Probably the Trolls." Caleb said first. Aldarn then added, "Ya, those will be fun to hunt again, if we get lucky we will find some fresh tracks when we get out there." This made Will go pale as Julian glared warningly and say, "Boys, stop it or else"

This made the two become quite knowing their little joke was not going to go over well. Julian then looked at Will and smiled reassuringly at her. "Don't worry, these two were just making a bad joke. I personally saw to it every last one was hunted down long ago so you have nothing to worry about."

Will looked up at the man in awe as she asked, "You killed them all? When was that?" this got Caleb groaning. "Don't get him started!" Caleb said in exasperation as they entered the village with the gate closing behind them.

Julian looked back at them with a playful glare. "It is a perfectly good story, you used to love hearing it as a child, as I recall." He said as he looked right at his son.

"Ya, back when I had not heard it a million times!" The younger Russell said in protest getting Will and Aldarn laughing as father and son argued back and forth as they headed to where Irma and Hay Lin were waiting.

Five minutes later they arrived at were Hay Lin's family lived, the inn called the Silver Dragon. As Will dismounted her horse she heard two very familiar voices yell out, "Will!"

She barely had time to turn around to see her friends come running up and got her into a group hug. "Our saviours have arrived." Irma said making Will look confused as she looked at her friend.

Yan Lin chuckled as she came out of the inn and answered the unasked question. "Their parents have had them doing non-stop chores since they heard of the incident in the ruins. This little job Julian has hired them for will get them away from those chores for a while." The old woman explained.

Will looked at her friends with a regretful expression on her face. "I'm sorry you guys, you only went along with my idea yet I get off easy and you get punished." To Will's surprise she heard Yan Lin laugh at this comment.

"You still don't know much about Irma, do you? She's gotten both her self and Hay Lin into trouble since they were babes, if you ever find these two not grounded for any prolonged length of time then you should worry." This got a strong amount of protest from the other two girls as they glared at the old woman.

Julian, Caleb and Aldarn were enjoying the show until they saw four adults coming out of the inn. These were the two girls' parents Tom Lair, Anna Lair, Chen Lin and Joan Lin.

Julian had a rough time calming these four down after hearing the new events with Yan Lin and his wife's help. Hay Lin's parents were very overprotective of their daughter, even more so than most parents. They were about a stone throw away from telling their daughter that she was forbidden from being friends with Will until Yan Lin reminded them who really was in charge in their family.

Irma's parents, though hysterical, were a bit more reasonable once they settled down and thought things over. Irma was of course still grounded because her father believed if he did not then Irma might go jumping head first into trouble. Anna did not believe Irma would do this but let her husband have his way.

Julian knew Tom and Anna would not be a problem. Tom would only be upset that a group of young girls tried something so dangerous and Anna being a rouge who was used to taking risks back in the day practically applauded the group's actions.

It was Chen Lin and Joan he was worried about. Chen especially because he was the most protective of the pair, Joan could be more reasonable but had a very traditional way of mind that following the lead of her husband was more important than personal opinion. Yan Lin had tried to encourage her daughter in law to be more independent but had only minimal success.

Julian knew those two were going to be very hard on Will as they set their sights on the poor girl. "So this is the girl you told us about Hay Lin?" Chen said as he looked Will over making Will cringe under his gaze.

Caleb knowing the man would probably start doing something that would make Will very uncomfortable such as lecturing her on what she had done spoke up so to save her from Chen's wrath. "Father, should we head out now or wait until tomorrow morning?"

Julian knowing what his son was trying to do, though pausing for a moment as if in thought then said, "Yes, lets leave today and get and early start." Julian then looked over to the other two girls.

"I assume you're already prepared to go?" He asked getting a very quick nod from both Hay Lin and Irma. They also knew what Caleb's intentions were and quickly went to go get their gear.

Chen was about to protest the girl leaving when Yan Lin cleared her throat and gave a warning look. Chen maybe was Hay Lin's father, but some how Yan Lin tended to get final say on things that happened to her granddaughter.

The only reason she allowed Hay Lin to be grounded was because Irma was so she worked out a deal for the two to do work in the inn as their punishment. The fact that Yan Lin was letting her son have his way was a rare thing so had to agree to his mother's terms.

Julian loved watching the man cower under his mother's gaze. He did not hate Chen by any means but the man was way too protective of his daughter for her own good. If her father had his way Hay Lin would be stuck working at the Silver Dragon her whole life never being able to choose her own life.

Yan Lin refused to allow that and outright encouraged her to take up the art of wizardry once she took interest in a class called Arcane Trickster. It was a class that combined arcane magic and rogue training to create a powerful blend of the two arts. Chen did not approve of this but any one who went against Yan Lin quickly learned their mistake.

A few minutes later they two girls were back with their backpacks and combat gear. The only thing new was two quivers of arrows they carried and a weapon to fire them with. Hay Lin had a light cross bow which rouges often preferred. Irma, despite having rouge training, preferred a longbow like the one Will used.

Now that the others were ready to go Julian made sure the horses would be looked after since they would go on foot for the actual hunt. The horses would alert animals more easily of people being in the area so going on foot was better.

They left the village by going through another gate on the opposite side of the village and headed deeper into the woods. During the walk Julian explained the reasons behind things to Will.

These things were like how to track something by using tracks, damaged branches or… Their poop. The last one made Will look a little disgusted which got a wise crack from both Caleb and Aldarn as they both said at the same time, "Girls!"

Irma got them back for all three female members of group by pulling back a branch then letting it loose just as the two boys got in range. They were not paying attention and got whacked in the chest by said branch and made the two stumble backwards to the ground.

Irma gave her two friends a thumb up making them giggle while Julian rolled his eyes as he said to his son and his friend, "When will you two learn that Hell have no greater fury than a woman's scorn."

"That does not qualify as a girl, let alone a woman." Aldarn said pointing at Irma who promptly through a dirt clod at his face, scoring a direct hit. "I rest my case." Julian said with a smirk on his face as the elf spat dirt out of his mouth.

After that they went back to hunting and found deer tracks. This had Hay Lin locking in an arrow into her cross bow until Julian raised his hand to stop her. "Will's taking the shot if we find it so no one draw an arrow."

This made Will look at Julian in confusion as she asked, "Why me?" Which got a gentle smile from the man as he placed a hand a on her shoulder. "You have killed in self defence before but shooting an animal during the hunt is a bit different. Some people just don't have it in them kill an animal unless there is actual need to do so, such as a desperate need for food. Its best to see if you have it in you and if not then one of us can take over."

This did clear things up for Will but it also made her nervous. She wondered if Caleb would think her weak if she could not even try to take the shot. This trail of thought was in her mind the whole time they tracked the deer.

They eventually found it in a clearing deep in the forest and they were hidden in the bushes in the perfect location for the shot. "Alright Will, this is your chance. Just notch an arrow and show us what you can do." Julian instructed Will as they gave her room to work.

Will slowly took out an arrow and readied her bow. As she took aim she got a good look at the animal and saw it was a male deer because of the antlers on its head. It must have been a rather old but still strong one judging by its size and was eating some grass ignorant of the hunters near by.

Will finding out she was very good with animals lately was finding it hard to bring her self to shoot her arrow. The others watched Will as she was trying to bring her self to fire all knowing the first time was hardest, some are never able to bring them selves to do it.

Eventually Will shot her arrow trying to make it look like she only missed but it did not fool the others. Once the arrow shot past the deer it hit a tree and made the animal run at the sound of the trunk being struck.

Will looked at the others while still putting on her act that she missed by accident. "Sorry, guess my aim is not as good as I thought." The others just smiled and nodded as they all started heading out while Julian pulled Will to one side.

"Good try Will, next time though just say you can't do it. What you did was actually the right thing if you're some one who can't bring themselves to shot and I think you fooled the others. I just don't like seeing arrows being wasted." Julian said lying about Will being able to fool the others but he knew it best to let her believe she succeeded.

Will felt a little embarrassed that she thought she could fool the older man but was surprised she fooled the others, or at least that was what she believed. "I'm sorry, guess you are disappointed that you got such a lousy student." Will said as she looked downward at her feet feeling ashamed.

Julian just smiled down at the young girl and placed his hand on her shoulder. "You're not lousy, there are plenty of nobles who only make them selves shoot so not to look weak in front of others. I believe there is nothing wrong with it though. Like I said, killing in self-defence is different from this and you're probably better off not forcing your self. Now let's go catch up with the others."

While the two went to catch up with the rest, the dark figure from the ruins was watching from distance. Had any one been close enough they would have been able to feel the anger and annoyance radiating from him. "Why his highness wants the brat tested here instead of his own kingdom I'll never understand, but orders are orders." The figure said as he took out a scroll and started chanting the spell written on it.

Mean while the group had found rabbit tracks and located where a few were. Irma and Hay Lin managed to pick off a few for a meal. Julian was now teaching Will how to prepare the meat to be cooked and as expected it was making the young girl look a little green.

"Don't worry you get used to it, you should have seen Caleb after his first time he refused to eat any kind meat for month." Julian said to Will as he teased his son at the same time.

"Father!" Caleb yelled in protest while Will looked back and fourth between the two. 'He had the same problem.' She thought to her self as a part of her thought she might have a chance with Caleb. She quickly pushed those thoughts aside as the part that she assumed was the more reasonable part of her brain told her she would never stand a chance of being with the likes of Caleb Russell.

Suddenly Will's keen half-elf ears picked up some clicking sounds…A lot of them and quickly stood up to look around and along with Aldarn who also heard the sounds. The others looked at them confused but Julian knew from past experience from watching Susan get like this was getting ready to reach for his sword.

Caleb seeing this also reached for his sword while Irma and Hay Lin just waited to see what was up. The sounds kept getting louder until even those with out Elvin blood could hear it. Julian's eyes widened knowing what the sound was while every one else was confused. "It can't be…Everyone we need to head back to the village. Now!"

Caleb looked at his father confused and asked, "What is it father?" The only response was a look that said, 'You don't want to know.' With this every one did as the older man said. They grabbed their things and started moving but the clicking sounds kept getting closer.

Soon they could see what was making the sounds, a large group of fifty skeletons and they were bearing rusted weapons in hand heading right for them. "Damn, they caught up already!" Julian growled out as every one got ready to fend off the undead attackers.

Will let loose a barrage of eldritch blasts while Aldarn did the same with a flurry of arrows. Since they were just animated bones some of the arrows missed or did minimal damage while the blasts had a bit more effect. All together six skeletons were taken down by the joint effort of the two but it would not be enough to stop the whole group.

"No choice but to keep running, Will is the only one not at a disadvantage against these things." Julian yelled out to the group and kept moving. While they ran Hay Lin asked, "Why is Will the only who can fight them?"

Caleb answered for his father as he spoke up first. "Because the only weapons we have with us are ether piecing or slashing weapons. Skeleton creatures are not damaged easily by those kinds of weapons and we can only have so many spells we can cast. But Will's reserves of supernatural energy for her blasts are practically limitless so she could shoot at them for hours while we can only cast for minutes."

This was when Julian spoke as well to add something to his son's explanation. "Plus, only you and Caleb are the only ones with long range combat spell besides Will. But the skeletons are constantly trying to catch up and attack so we can't just stand still to give you time to casts your spells."

Hay Lin glanced back at Will surprised while Irma did not react at all to this bit of information. After all, as an arcane hunter she knew a fair bit about warlock power. Not that it helped them much in this little predicament.

As the group ran they began to tire and knew that unless they could find a place to mount a counter attack from they would be overwhelmed. But fortunately Irma knew this specific part of the forest quite well. Her knowledge about warlocks might not help them but her knowledge of the forest might.

"Hey Julian, head that way there is a place I know about were we might be able to hold up for a while." Hay Lin looked at Irma knowing what her best friend was suggesting. "I thought you said you would never show a grown up where that was." The rouge/wizard said in confusion.

This only made Irma look at her friend, "Ya, but I'd rather not be skinned alive by skeletons!" She called back. Then suddenly Will came up from behind Irma and started pushing the girl to the front of the group.

"None of us want to be skinned, so less talking more leading!" the half-elf yelled while all three males in the group yelled out, "Yes, please do!"

Irma now at the front of the group started to lead them where to go, all the while grumbling. "Rush me why don't you, sheesh!"

Irma led them through the forest to a rocky hill with what looked like a cave at the top. Julian could easily guess to why Irma thought to come here seeing how it could easily be defended compared to being out in the open like they were now.

"Good idea Irma, this will be a good spot to start fighting back." Julian said as every one made their way to the cave. The skeletons was continuing to pursue them and make their way up the hill, but by the time they got half way up Will was sending pinkish red blasts of energy raining down on them.

The others were firing arrows trying to thin the numbers of the small skeleton army. They managed to succeed to a small degree by taking out another eight before the skeleton warriors reached the cave entrance.

Fortunately Caleb had just the spell to even odds now that he had time to cast it. It was a grade one spell called Fists of Stone. It did not make his hands look any different but now his physical strength increased dramatically and one blow shattered the skeleton it hit.

Julian knew that while his sword was not able to fully affect the skeletons it still could help and was hacking away at them as best he could. The others stayed back, so to give the father and son room to fight at mouth of the cave. The entrance just big enough for the two of them to fight in, with out getting each other's way. But every so often Will would let off another shot of her eldritch blasts, to help take the enemy down.

Eventually the last skeleton was taken down but it was getting dark so Julian turned to the group and said, "We stay here tonight then we head back to the village in the morning."

Irma looked up at Julian in confusion and asked, "Why? We took care of all of them so why head back early?" This made Julian shake his head at the girl's forgetfulness. "Skeleton creatures don't have any will of there own, some one needs to order them to do something." This made the missing information click into place for Irma and shock Will.

"That means some one sent those after us?" Will asked which made Julian shake his head again. "Not necessarily, but it's possible and I would rather not find out so we head back first thing tomorrow morning."

With that the group started to set up camp in side the cave when Will asked, "Why is it you did not want any adults knowing of this place Irma?" This had the attention of three men in the group as they waited for Irma to respond.

After a moment Irma finally answered, "This has always been sort of a secret hang out for me and Hay Lin, when ever we get permission to go camping by our selves we come here so we don't want any one to know about so adults are not constantly checking up on us."

Julian nodded knowingly at this and said, "Don't worry we won't tell any one. But I think you'll under stand when you're parents some day why yours do that…All be it Chen and Joan take it a bit too far at times."

Every one smirked at the last part and went about finishing the preparations of the camp inside the cave. It did not take long since they were using the cave all that was really left to do was gather some wood for a fire.

Julian while not seeking to play matchmaker like his wife was, decided to help push things along and spoke to Will and Caleb. "You two go get the wood, just don't go too far." He instructed getting nodded from Caleb but had a confused and blushing Will.

Caleb trying to figure out why she was not moving started tugging on her arms saying. "Lets go, Will." Making the young girl get up and follow but looked back at Irma and Hay Lin and mouthed, 'Help me!'

Irma being as helpful as usual mouthed back, 'Okay, remember to get dry sticks.' Which caused Hay Lin to giggle while Will made a mental note to challenge Irma to another sparring match later.

After that Will started moving on her own so Caleb let her go and they made their way down the hill to go gather wood and kindling. As they did Caleb spoke up. "Good thing you were with us or we might not have been able to beat those skeleton warriors." He commented as he looked at her with friendly smile.

Will blushed at Caleb's comment as she tried to answer. "Th-thank you but I don't think I was that much help, you and Julian took out the majority of them while I only to took a few out with my blasts." She managed to stammer out as she picked up some sticks.

Caleb just shook his head while keeping the smile on his face. "I don't think so. You also heard them coming sooner than even Aldarn and he is a pure blooded elf. Plus you took the first few out making their numbers smaller and easier for me and my father to fight." This made Will's blush go even deeper under her crush's praise but she managed keep it hidden because she was bent down to pick up fire wood.

Caleb wondered why she was being so silent but girls always confused him so he would just wait for her to start the next conversation. 'Got to admit she is more confusing then most girls I have met but at least she is not hanging all over me as some of them do.' He thought to him self as he gathered wood for the fire.

After a few minutes Will, out curiosity, asked. "Caleb, I was wondering, you can cast magic but I don't know what kind of caster you are. Are you a sorcerer like me or a wizard like Hay Lin?"

Caleb smirked at her as he answered "Nether I am a Warmage" This made Will gasped know about Warmages from some of the books she read in Susan's collection. It was quite common for a lot a nobility to have training as one if they were of a long line of warriors but wanted to use magic to augment their fighting abilities.

Then Will realized something that made her believe he was lying, "Wait, if you're a Warmage how come you can be away from your academy so often?" She asked with the tone of her voice making clear she did not believe him.

This only got a chuckle from Caleb as he responded, "I started my training much earlier then most would or could. Its one of the perks of having two very influential parents, though as my mother often tells me if I were not too stubborn for my own good I would have never have succeeded in finishing my initial training at thirteen."

This made Will look a little uneasy as she asked what considered the most important question yet, "How old were you exactly when you started your training?"

"Five years old." Caleb said casually with smirk on his face but it quickly changed to a look of pain as Will screeched out, "FIVE YEARS OLD!" Making Caleb cover his ears.

Back in the cave Aldarn was covering his ears as well while Julian, Irma and Hay Lin laughed. "Gee, I wonder what that was all about." Irma joked knowing that Caleb probably told Will about his early training.

Hay Lin trying to get her self under control again while Julian was just letting his laughter go unchecked. Aldarn on the other hand growled out, "I'm glad you all are have a good time!" Once again this proved that to have heightened hearing was an advantage most times for an elf but at times like this it was a disadvantage.

Back with Will and Caleb the boy was just getting his hearing back when he grumbled out, "You mind screaming a little louder next time? I don't think the people on the other side of the world heard you!"

Will cringed and looked away while saying. "Sorry." Her face looked a little red due her embarrassment. Caleb seeing this gave her a gentle smile and said, "It's alright, lets just head back, they will want this fire wood to make dinner…Don't want to starve poor Irma now do we?"

The last part made Will laugh as they headed back towards the hill with Will leading the way. As they got close the cave Will was starting to have trouble with her load and as she tried to adjust the load to hold it better she tripped. "Aaaahhhh!" she yelled as she started to fall but Caleb dropped his load a grabbed her.

Caleb tried to pull Will towards him so she could use him to help regain her balance but as he did Will also turned to face him at the same time and their lips met. They were both so surprised by what was happening nether tried to pull away due to their confusion.

The others hearing the commotion came out to see the pair still having their lips pressed against each other. "Caleb, you dog." Aldarn said with a grin on his face while Irma added, "Way to go Will!" While Hay Lin was cheering at the sight. Julian on the other had been doing his best not laugh at his son's and Will's expense as they broke apart both blushing so deeply they nearly glowed.

But the blushing did not last long as three younger members of the group continued their cheering/taunting making the two draw their weapons. This made the three run into the cave to keep their distance from the two sword wielders but Julian stood in their path.

"Calm down you two, the joking will stop now alright?" Julian said in an attempt to calm them down. From inside the cave Irma's voice rang out. "Ya, we will stop. Just put those over grown knives away!"

Though it seemed to take a while for the two to calm down, giving their current desire to murder the three in the cave, they did eventually sheath their weapons.

Julian knew if he had to he could easily handle the two if they tried any thing but was glad he did not need to as he breathed a sigh of relief. "Alright let's go grab that wood you dropped and get dinner going. Good thing Irma threw the rabbits into a sack before we got moving or we would be hunting for more food again."

Several hours later, Caleb was doing his watch while every one slept…With exception of one. "You can't sleep or are you waiting to talk to me alone?" Caleb asked and saw his father get up and head over to where he was sitting.

"Just wanted to know what happened earlier. I know it was probably an accident from the way you two were acting afterwards but I just want to know for sure. I want to know if I'll need to increase the number of guards back home to protect you from Susan." The man said teasing his son with the last part.

"Father!" Caleb growled in low tone of voice so not to wake the others. He then looked away from the older man and grumbled out, "I thought you said the teasing was over with."

Julian chuckled as he responded, "I'm your father, it's my job to tease and embarrass you when ever possible. It's one of the perks to being a parent." He said as his son gave him a huffing sound as a response.

"Anyways, back to the question, what happened?" Julian asked in a tone that was not forceful but it did say that his son should answer. After a bit of reluctance Caleb finally responded, "Nothing much to it, she slipped, I caught and while doing so she turned around at the same time and our lips met by accident." Caleb explained as he retold the story to his father.

Julian had to chuckle at that. "Your admirers better not find out about this or the poor girl will be hounded by them…Unless Susan decides to remind them what kind of spells she has access to." He joked, one that made them both chuckle. This was due to the fact that they both knew Susan was probably going to get tips from Abele. Being the 'Mage' she naturally made girls fear her when they got too close to her son but she also knew how to intimidate them with few tricks with her magic.

Caleb had to love that idea, "Ya, two birds with one stone. I lose a few admirers and Will dose not need to lock her self in the tallest tower…But I'll admit it was one heck of a way to get a first kiss." This made Julian look at son with a surprised expression on his face.

"How so? Most people want their first kiss to be a little more…Special than a simple accident." Julian asked wanting to know if the two circling hawks named Susan and Abele where going to have their way.

Caleb blushed a little as he thought how what to say then answered. "Well, I'm not sure if I 'like' her or not seeing how we have just met. But I'll admit I'm impressed by what I have seen and heard her do. Will has lived a life that would have broke many, she managed to save that Blunk creature from a massive number of enemies, and today she did not even freeze up for a second when we fought those skeletons. You have to admit she is not like most girls."

Julian had smirk on his face from his son's tone, "Sounds like you admire her a bit." He commented making Caleb blush again a slight bit. "Well, how can you not admire and respect some who is both that strong…Yet some how she is still a girl. Irma is strong but is so much a tomboy that many don't see or treat her as a girl, yet Will while a bit of a tomboy her self still has a gentleness to her that makes everyone not forget that she is a girl." Caleb explained to her his father.

Julian hearing this made him wonder if his son really knew his own feelings as well as he thought he did. 'Caleb, I think you like her more then you know. Perhaps I should send word to Susan to have Will come back with us any way. Might as well encourage the possible relationship while the feelings are still there.' The older man thought to him self then noticed Caleb standing up.

"Father, since you're up…Could you…Well?" Caleb said pointing towards the entrance to the cave trying to hint at what he needed to do. It did not take Julian long to figure it out and said. "Go ahead I'll keep watch until your back."

With that Caleb nodded his head in thanks and took off out of the cave. While Caleb was gone Julian said, "Get to sleep, you'll need you energy for tomorrow." With that there was a small squeak and Will's blanket was pulled over her head. This made Julian chuckle at her actions and went back to keep an eye out for trouble.

Meanwhile Will was resisting the urge to squeal with joy. 'He may not have said he likes me but he did say he was not sure yet so maybe I do have a chance!' She thought to her self with glee. Will then calmed her self down enough to drift off into a peaceful sleep unaware of what lurked near by.

Off in the distance hidden by the darkness and trees the dark figure watched and contemplated on what happened with the skeleton warriors he summoned. 'Not what one could call a successful test but I can't call it a failure ether. The brat did show some skill with the ones it did take down but not enough to fully gauge its strength. His highness will want a detailed report of its power so I'll need to think of another test.' The figure thought to him self.

Then a thought struck him, 'Yes, that would do it. If it would even handle the creation process let alone perform it then that would truly gauge it's mental and physical strength and get an idea of the combat skill it currently has.' With that the dark figure teleported away to gain permission to use his idea.

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There you go. The next chapter will take longer then the last few, but I will try to get it out as soon as possible.


	12. Meridian Capital, Here She Comes

Here is the nex chapter of Shunned One and I would like to thank Ice Queen of Candracar and Wilhelmina Vandom for Betaing it.

I would also like to thank Wilhelmina Vandom, The Crazy Talk Kid, KnightofFaerun, Darkness-Lightness, GuyverZero, human kitsune hero, Angel Maria Cloud, Kitsune6, jj and Philip Gipson for reveiwng.

IMPOTANT NOTICE: I have been forgetting to mention this in past Author Notes, but some character have leveled and I have psoted the changed level in my bio.

Discliamer: I don't own W.I.T.C.H. or D&D so no law suites please.

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Chapter 11: Meridian Capital, Here She Comes

The next morning, the group was packed up and heading back to the village at dawn. Irma and Hay Lin wished it was not ending so soon since they would be heading right back to doing chores the second they got back.

Will wished it was not ending as well, but for a different reason. If they left now then she would be heading to the capital with Julian, Caleb and Aldarn instead of heading home. Susan had not sent word she was done at the ruins so that meant Julian was going to have to go with the back up plan.

"Julian...What am I going to do while in the capital?" Will asked as they walked. She was a bit nervous about what the answer would be, since she was unsure of what kind of work she would be assigned in Julian's home.

Julian thought about this for a moment, he had not fully planned on wrapping up this trip so soon. 'Let's see perhaps...Yes that should be much more productive then having her run around the manor doing minor tasks.' The Royal Knight thought and looked towards Will.

"How would you like to attend Sheffield Academy until Susan sends word she is back? You won't be an official student, but I'm sure I can ask Sade to arrange for you to be able to attend classes with Taranee, Cornelia and Princess Elyon. I heard from Susan that you're not used to a scheduled system like regular school but you might enjoy it none the less." Julian asked.

Will was surprised at the suggestion. Her in school? Even if it was just for a short time it did seems like a rather alien concept, seeing how most half-elves did not even dream of the idea. 'I did wonder what it would be like to be able to go, but if it's like the read, writing and math lessons that Susan has me doing I'm not sure if it's a good idea.' Will thought to herself as she weighed the pros and cons.

After a few minutes Will asks, "Am...Am I really allowed to be there? Since I am half-elf and a warlock, won't they...Not want me there?" Will's question got her several looks of sympathy from the group. They knew this would be a question Will would ask over and over again for years to come if things did not change and blind hatred was allowed to continue.

"Don't you worry about it Will, there is no way they can stop you or make you leave unless they have just cause. Plus you'll have three of your friends, my son and Mathew Olsen to make sure they don't try anything once you are there." Julian assured Will, which helped a little.

"Well...I guess I could at least give it a try. But what about my forced service? How can I go to school when I have to do that?" Will asked, still a bit nervous at the idea of going to this Sheffield place.

Julian just roughed up Will's hair and gave her a grin, "Typical teenager, trying to get out of going to school." Will blushed a bit at this but said nothing as they kept walking back to the village.

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After a few hours of walking the group finally got back and were the Lairs and the Lins surprised. "What happened? Did someone get hurt?" A panicked Chen Lin asked, once again assuming the worst. It did not help that Hay Lin's mother Joan was being equally frantic, much to the poor girl's embarrassment.

"Oh knock that off you worry warts! I swear my granddaughter has TWO mothers from the way you both act sometimes!" Yan Lin stated, as she came to her granddaughter's rescue. Meanwhile, Irma's father had his arms crossed over his chest and was tapping his foot, while looking at Irma with an expression that clearly said, 'Explanation now!'

Irma gulped at this site, but fortunately Julian stepped in and explained the situation. After an hour of explaining and Yan Lin and Anna glaring at Tom, Chen and Joan to make sure they did not do anything stupid or rash, Irma and Hay Lin were freed from their grounding because they helped make sure everyone stayed safe during the skeleton encounter.

This made the two celebrate being free from the extra chores and Will was just glad they were no longer being punished for what happened in the ruins. Irma and hay Lin tried to get permission to go back with Will to the capital, but the request was shot down by the parents.

The two had been away so much lately their families wanted to have them home for a while. Will felt a little sad to be leaving her fiends so soon, or did until Irma yelled out as they were leaving, "Hey, let us know if you and Caleb have another moment together!"

"Ya we need to know all the juicy details!" Hay Lin added, which was causing Will and Caleb's faces to go from both embarrassment and anger. Every one else with in ear shot was either laughing at their expense or very curious at what the two were talking about.

"Irma! Hay Lin! The next time I see either of you, you better run!" Will screamed back at them. "The same goes for me!" Caleb yelled back as well so the two girls knew to watch out for both him and Will.

Julian and Aldarn just chuckled at the whole event, finding the two's reactions very amusing and knew the two jokers were going to be in for a world of hurt the next time they crossed Will or Caleb.

After reaching the edge of the forest, Aldarn turned to Caleb and said, "Well this is where we part my friend. I'll try to visit again soon." The Elf's words shocked Will and turned to look at Aldarn in confusion.

"You're not coming back with us Aldarn? Don't you go to the academy with Caleb?" Will asked. She never really got to know the Elvin boy all that much, so she was sad to see him go before she had the chance. Plus Will wanted to know more about her Elvin heritage from an actual Elf. She had been tempted to ask Susan several times, but also didn't want to pester the woman with pointless questions just so she could satisfy her own curiosity.

"Na, I'm a wanderer like Susan was a few years back. I explore human lands for a while then head back home and visit my family for a few weeks. Then I see if any of my fellow Rangers need a helping hand and if they don't, I come back and roam Meridian a little more." Aldarn explained to Will, who was now looking at him with a mixed expression of amazement and envy.

"Wish I could do something like that." Will admitted. She would have loved to be able to wander Meridian. To see things or do things only few others had done before, possibly even be the first to achieve something no one had done before and no longer be looked upon with disdain.

Julian gently placed his hand on Will's shoulder and gave her an encouraging smile. "One day you just may be able to. Think of your forced service as if it was to prepare you for the day you can go out on your own and explore this kingdom and beyond once your debt is paid in full." Julian said in encouragement. He could understand Will's desire to adventure beyond the places she knows about, many young boys and girls have at least fantasies of doing so, but half-elves tend to be even more prone to these desires then most young people.

They do it as a means of escape from the torments of the people, possibly even gain acknowledgement if their exploits were great enough. That was something many half-elves sought due to years of being neglected and shunned by society…Or at least that's what the good ones sought anyway. Others, for obvious reasons, wanted revenge instead ofacknowledgement.

"I…Guess that's true. Guess that means I'll be really prepared because I'll be a hundred by the time I pay it all off." Will said in a shy tone. The three males could tell Will was trying to joke at being a hundred years old when she was finally free, they could also tell a part of her actually believed it.

Julian knew that Susan would never let the sentence go on for that long, not even she could deny the motherly attachment she had gained for Will for even half that long. 'If Susan did, either me, Abele or Sade would pay off Will's debt and give the woman a tongue lashing.' Julian thought as he gave Will an encouraging smile.

"If by some off chance that happened, you would still have plenty of time to explore this world. The average life span for your race is about two hundred fifty years after all." Julian commented, hoping that a little reminder of girl's long life span would cheer her up. In theory it should, since all the time Will looses to her forced service was only a small drop in the girl's total lifespan.

Will just gave Julian a small smile as the group finally started moving again. Aldarn headed off in his own direction, while Caleb, Julian and Will headed towards the Royal capital. All the while, Will was trying to brace herself for the events to come. What ever they might be.

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It was another two days ride to the capital, ones that were uneventful. Julian tried to help give Will more pointers and tips on survival in the wilderness, but since it was easier to show certain things than describe them he was not able to teach Will everything he had originally planned.

Of course he was still able to give Will plenty of information and knew all the redhead needed was for either Susan to take Will on a patrol mission or for him to bring her on another hunting trip for Will to practice this newly gained knowledge. Once that happened it would be a simple matter for either him or Susan to help Will learn the last few tricks a bit better.

By the time they reached the capital, Will seemed a bit more at ease at the idea of going to the academy, mainly due to Caleb's encouragement and telling her what happens during the daily routines. Both father and son could tell Will was never going to fully get used to the sit still and learn classes, such as math, history or magical theory, but could also tell she would excel in practical and hands on classes like sword training and magic practice.

Julian wished he was able to teach Will a few new tricks to ad to the girl's arsenal, but since she was learning a different sword style than he was used to and had never bothered to learn how to access magic, he could not teach Will much. So for the most part her just had Will spar with Caleb so she could at least practice what she did know.

As they got with in sight of the Royal City, Will had to stare at the beauty of it all. The capital seemed to have grander aura to it than the city that Susan lived in. It was so much bigger than Susan's city, which alone shocked Will. It was also artistic in design, but Will assumed it was because this was the capital of the kingdom.

Of course Will was not used to such a crowded place, so she was looking a little intimidated by all the people. The only thing that made it easier for her to handle was the fact that she was on her horse and some people made a little more room for her, Caleb and Julian to get through the crowds.

"First time in a crowded city, isn't it? Don't worry, you'll get used to it after a while." Julian assured Will as he rode closer to Will so she knew someone familiar was near by and hopefully give her a sense of security.

It helped Will a little but she was glad when they started getting closer to the wealthy side of town, instead the more public and merchant sections they had been in. The Wealthy section was lesscrowded but still had many people, since the capital had many more nobles and wealthy merchants with in it.

'I'm really starting to miss…Home' Will thought as she and her companions continued to ride through the city streets. This was the first time Will had admitted to herself that she thought the city were Susan lived was her home as well.

Will missed the small room just connected to Susan's, the familiar castle hallways and corridors, the warm and cozy spots in the large study where Will spent her quite time reading books and would sometimes fall asleep, then wake up to find Susan had wrapped her up in a blanket and moved her over by the fireplace that was at one end of the room.

Will was even starting to miss the morning training exercises and jogs and the pranks Will would pull in retribution for both the jogs and the cold and wet wakeup calls Susan would use on her every morning.

These thought were starting to upset Will, she never had a place she truly called home before so she also never had to worry about a little thing called being homesick. But now, Will no longer had that protection and was for the first time in her life, was missing a place she had grown so found of.

Caleb noticed Will's quickly disintegrating emotional condition and knew he needed to help Will get to someplace private fast. He was sure Will would prefer not to have an emotional break down in public, it would probably just make her feel worse in the end.

Caleb then discretely signalled his father with hand signs that they needed to pick up the pace. His father gave him a nod of his head to signal he understood and nudged his horse to go a bit faster. "Will, we should pick up the pace, I'm sure you must be tired after such a long trip." Julian said in hopes of helping the young girl get to a place where she may feel more comfortable if she was starting to get depressed.

Will only nodded her head in response, glad that she had the hood of her black cloak up. She thought it helped hide her depressed mood, which it did for the most part. Julian and Caleb were just better able to pick up on the sad girl's mood.

A few minutes later, they reached the Russell estate. It was a large mansion with a beautiful garden all over the front area and Will guessed it extended into the back area as well. "Welcome to our humble home Will." Julian said with a big grin on his face, hoping to cheer the depressed girl up.

It did not have much of an effect but Julian knew Will just needed time to adjust; she had been taken out of her normal environment which was a place the redheaded half-breed felt safe and thrust into one where everything was new and unfamiliar. This would be a good experience for Will since she could not always be in her comfort zone after all, but Julian knew that did not mean it was going be a pleasant experience for Will for the first little bit.

As they got close to the front door of the mansion, Will saw Abele aka the Mage come out along with several servants. Will was just dismounting her horse when a servant reached to take the reins, but Will grabbed them and said, "I-It's okay, I'll do it. Just point me in the right direction and..." But before Will could finish Abele stepped in.

"Nonsense Will! You're a guest while your here." Able said as she gently pried the reins from Will's grasp and handed them to the servant. Abele then led Will towards the mansion, noticing the depressed aura around the young girl. When Abele glanced at her husband with a worried expression on his face, he mouthed the words 'I think she's homesick' to his wife.

Abele signalled she understood by nodding her head and continued to lead Will into the mansion. "Will, why don't we go get you cleaned up? It's been a long trip and I'm sure you would like a nice hot bath and a good meal." Abele said in a motherly tone, hoping to comfort Will and bring her out of her depression.

It did not have nearly as much effect as Abele hoped, but it did at least make Will to try and force a smile. Abele smiled back and opened the door for every one. Will noticed Caleb and Julian went into a small room next to the main entrance and looked a bit confused until Abele explained, "That is where they keep their weapons and armour Will. While we get you cleaned, I'll have a servant put your own in there as well. Don't worry; they will be perfectly safe in there." The last part was said because Abele noticed Will was touching her sword in a protective manner.

Will seemed to lighten her grip a bit at these words, but Abele could tell the young girl did not like letting some the most precious things she owned out of her sight. It was a normal half-elf reaction Abele had to sadly admit. Having very few personal items made the hybrid race very protective of the ones they do gain.

'And I bet the mithral chain shirt she is wearing under her tunic is especially important to her since it was a gift from Susan.' Abele thought as she took Will into a bathroom. A few minutes later, Will was in the tub having nice long soak. Abele told Will to take her time and be sure to get all the grime of the last few days off. The sorceress left to put Will's belongs away and to have Will's clothing cleaned, since the redhead had only a few changes of clothing brought along for the trip.

Will took advantage of this time alone to try and get herself back under control. She was feeling so sad; she was on the verge of tears. 'At least I did not cry in front of Caleb or his parents; I bet they would have found me rather pathetic if I did.' Will thought as she scrubbed herself clean.

After Will was done, she changed into a spare tunic and pants Abele had left behind. Abele had also left a note that gave directions on where to go after Will was done. Will followed the directions to two large doors. Just as Will was about to knock, she heard Abele's voice say, "Come in Will."

Will jumped a little bit at this, but after taking a second to recover from the startling experience, she entered the doors. What she found was a large library much like Susan's. This made Will feel a little homesick again, yet at the same made her feel a bit more comfortable.

"Will, please come and sit down." Will heard Abele say and looked over to see the woman was sitting on the far side of the library, next to the fireplace. There was a coffee table and couch across from the fireplace and two comfortable looking chairs on either side of the coffee table, one of which was occupied by Abele.

Will slowly headed over and sat on the couch, where Will noticed some tea and sandwiches waiting for her. "Eat up my dear, then I'll show you a few spots where you can find some books of the same type Susan mentioned you enjoy." Abele said with a kind smile, making Will look at the powerful sorceress in surprise.

"T-T-Thank you…But you really don't need to…" Will started to say, but was silenced by Abele's raised hand. "Nonsense, I have noticed you have seemed a little sad and I can guess why. You're in a completely different environment and are probably feeling homesick; something I'm hoping that by being in here might lessen these feelings. I know you like to read sometimes and since both Susan and I have a similar layout to our libraries, you might feel more at home in here." Abele explained with a gentle tone, hoping a little kindness would help brighten the sad girl's mood a little.

Will gave the woman a shy smile and nodded her head in acceptance, not wanting to offend Abele since she was going to so much trouble to make Will feel at home in a new place.

After Will finished her little snack, Abele showed Will to where the books were. Abele had apparently been in the middle of pulling said books from the shelves, since they were all stacked on a table with wheels. This gave Will the impression Abele had been getting the pile ready for her, much to the redhead's surprise.

'She did not need to go to all this trouble just for me.' Will thought as she looked at the stack of ten books that was presently on the wheeled table. "A couple of these books are spell books Will. I was not sure if I should put them in though, since I don't know Susan's plans for your future training." Abele said as she started to wheel the load back towards the fireplace.

Will looked at Abele in confusion and asked, "What do you mean? Wouldn't knowing as many spells as possible be good for my training?" To add to Will confusion, she watched Abele shake her head with an amused smile on her face.

"Susan had not gotten to explaining that yet has she? Let me explain then. You see Will, Susan is probably going to guide you down a path much like hers, where your casting type will be a mix of Blast, Sniper and Warrior." Abele said as they got back to the fireplace.

As the powerful sorceress expected, Will still seemed completely clueless to what she was saying. So Abele sat down on the couch and patted the spot next to her. "Sit down Will; this is going to take a while." Abele instructed the half-elf, who obeyed with out question.

"As I was saying, there are many types of casters, I won't explain them all since that would take hours but I will explain the three types I mentioned. First the Blaster type, they are the type of caster who uses spells that effect a wide area and can be used to take out multiple targets at once." Abele explained, making Will think back to the ruin adventure she had with the other girls. The Burning Hands spell Elyon, Taranee and Hay Lin used seemed to fit into a Blaster's arsenal of spells, since it did affect a wide area.

While Will thought of this, Abele continued, "The Sniper type is the one you relate to the most at this point in your training, because of your warlock abilities. Sniper type casters focus on single targets, taking out key enemies first before moving onto lesser opponents." Will could easily figure out why Abele though Will was very close to this type, since her eldritch blasts were well suited to a Sniper.

"Now the Warrior type is the one you are almost as good at as the Sniper type, since this type of caster is a frontline magic user, instead of a stand back and barraging opponents with long range spell. Warrior types have a wide selection of ability increasing spells, like ones that make themselves bigger, faster or stronger for a short period of time. With your Hideous Blow invocation, you have something that makes you even more suited to this type Will." Abele said as she wrapped up her little lesson on caster types.

Will had to admit she did seem close to being those types of casters. She lacked any area effecting spells at this time, but Susan was probably planning on changing that in the near future, but the other two types Will knew she already was heavily built around, from both training and the fact she was a Gifted with three classes that would be well suited for those types.

"Won't training to become something like that…Make me even more feared though? It's like I'm being trained to be some kind of ultimate warrior or weapon." Will said as she started to realize just how much power she could have one day. Susan said she had potential, but this new information made Will scared of her own power.

Abele looked a little startled at Will's words. She had not foreseen telling Will about a few caster types to scare the girl so badly. 'Maybe that's why Susan never explained her overall plan for Will's training to her, though I can't be sure until I actually ask Susan. Now that I think about it, Will's idea does make sense if you look at it from that viewpoint. Her potential along with that type of training would make a powerful force, even greater then I first thought back when I head she was Gifted in three classes. I better try to fix this little mess before it destroys all that confidence Susan has been trying to help Will gain.' Abele thought and quickly set to work.

"Will I can assure you that no one is trying to turn you into a weapon of any kind. In the past I'll admit Gifted were treated as tools by lords to gain power and wage war, but that was way back in darker times and that practice has long since been outlawed. Remember Susan could easily fit into that type as well, even though she lacks your eldritch blasts or invocations. Her spell casting abilities and skill with a sword makes her just as dangerous, only difference between you two is that fact you have Warlock abilities." Abele tried explaining, hoping it would make Will realize there was no grand scheme to make her into a force of destruction.

It seemed to help a little, because Will seemed a little calmer after hearing this. There was still some doubt and fear in the half-breed's expression. Abele knew only Susan was going to be able to put all these doubts to rest, but it might be awhile before that happens and all the powerful sorceress could do for now was try and keep Will busy until Susan was done at the ruins.

"Well I have to go check on those buffoons I call a husband and son. I bet they headed straight to bed for a nap instead of getting washed up first, so I better go deal with them. If you have any questions, please don't be afraid to come and ask." Abele said knowing she could do nothing at the moment to further convince Will her fears were unfounded, so she chose to leave Will alone and hoped she would distract herself by reading.

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Many hours later, Will was passed out on the couch with a book on her chest. Will had tired to do the very thing Abele hoped she would do and try to get her mind off the discussion they had earlier.

As Will slowly woke up, she found out it was late in the evening because the moon was now up and was in the position it would be in around midnight. Will also noticed someone had even started a fire in the fireplace and had placed a blanket on her as well, much like Susan would.

'Another thing that reminds me of home.' Will thought sadly and slowly got up. Normally when she found herself in this predicament, Will would go to her room and go back to sleep, but even if she was home that would not have been the case tonight. The discussion she had earlier with Abele was still bothering Will, so she decided to go look up a very specific book, one about a topic Abele had mentioned earlier.

'I never really thought about looking up the history of Gifted before. Were we really seen as tools or weapons of the lords back in the past? Maybe researching that…Would help me decide if Susan is only trying to turn me into a weapon or if I'm just being paranoid.' Will thought as she cast her light spell so she could see.

Will's body then started to glow, since light needed to be cast on a person or object to work. Since Will had no item to use she cast the spell on herself. 'Now I'm a walking lamppost.' Will silently mused as she headed further in the library in search of the book she wanted.

Being unfamiliar with how and where Abele kept what sections, Will quickly became lost among the bookshelves to the point she could not find her way back to the fireplace. 'What do I do?' Will wondered as she tried to think of what she was supposed to do, when she suddenly noticed a small door in the corner of the room, almost hidden in the shadows but Will's keen eyesight noticed it quite easily.

"What's that?" Will whispered as she headed over to the door. As Will opened it she found it led to a spiralling set of stairs that led downward. This really peeked the redhead's interest. She was wondering why something like this would be in a library, so she decided to check it out.

It took a while to reach the bottom of the stairs, much to Will's surprise. She had not been expecting such a long flight of stairs to under the Russell estate. 'Wonder what could be kept so far underground?' Will wondered as she finally reached the bottom and found another door.

Will opened it to findit led into a large chamber with a pool of water in the middle of it and several corridors branching off from the chamber. In the center of the pool of water was a stone platform that had a book on a stand. Will approached the pool as she wondered how anyone was supposed to get to the book, when she noticed a stone float to the surface.

Shortly after that another stone popped up and then another, until there a trail of stepping stones leading to the stone platform in the middle of the pond. "Guess that's how you get over there." Will mused and walked on the stepping-stones to get over to where the book was, knowing it had to be there for a reason.

When Will reached the book she noticed it opened up on its own to the first page of the index. 'Someone certainly spent a lot money on enchantments so far for just this spot of this place, either that or Abele's been busy. What are they keeping down here that they would go to all this trouble though?' Will wondered as she read the index of the book.

The index seemed to list categories of items, which was further broken down into others. The book seemed to be log of some kind of items from what Will could figure out. "Wait…Abele is supposed to a protector of a lot magic items and knowledge. I wonder if there is any thing in here related to Warlocks? I might find out some new invocations or something." Will said aloud, which made the book act strangely.

The pages started to flip through themselves and went to a section that listed two pages worth of warlock related items, mainly things that seemed like their scrolls or books. "Wow!" Will said, impressed that there was so much related to her outcast class. Will was still scared of her own power because of what happened earlier, but she also still had a desire to learn more about her own abilities thanks to Susan's encouragement.

"Okay let's see…I now know they're around here somewhere but how do I find them?" Will whispered to herself, trying to find any possible clue that might be on the two pages. But once again the book seemed to provide the answer and a small blue sphere of light the size of a marble floated out from the page.

It then shot over to one of the many corridors and just floated there; giving Will the impression this was her 'guide'. Will quickly went back across the stepping-stones, which sank back into the water as she crossed, and followed the blue ball of light.

It led Will down several passageways until the ball of light stopped in front of the entrance to a small chamber. Inside were two shelves holding books and scrolls on them, which Will hoped were what she was looking for. As Will stepped into the room, she noticed there was a seven-foot metal figure in each corner of the room. Each had large bulky build and large sword in one hand and a shield in the other.

"Weird way to decorate a room Abele." Will joked aloud, finding it strange the woman would put something like those statues in a room very few people probably even knew about, let alone came to.

Will started to search the shelves and read the titles on the bindings of the books, seeing what there was to read. Will found something called 'Fledgling Warlock Invocations' something Will thought should be a good place to start. 'I have to had increased my skills a bit, but better stick to the basic stuff just to be safe.' Will thought as she reached to pull the book free from the shelf.

But just as her hand touched it, a powerful electrical charge shocked her hand and made her pull it away quickly. Before Will had time to figure out what happened, a barrier formed around the two book cases and a third barrier formed in front of the only exit to the room, making sure there was no way out for the half-elf warlock.

"Okay…Abele made sure to protect her stuff. Just stay calm Will, she'll probably have some kind alarm set up to alert her someone was in here and will be…" Will started to tell herself so she could calm down from what happened, but then heard something shifting and saw the four statues starting to move.

'They're not statues…They're Golems!' Will screamed in her mind as the four metal Golems started advancing toward Will. They looked slow and not very agile, but that did not mean much if there was four of them and they never got tired, any thief (or in this case Will) would wear out eventually and be killed by the room's four protectors.

'Abele please don't be relying on these four to protect this stuff and come fast!' Will begged in her mind as she dove out of the way of one of the four Golems' attacks and fired an eldritch blast at it. But the Golem raised it's large shield to intercept the bolt of pink energy and it bounced off harmlessly.

Another Golem moved in to strike Will, but she once again dodged the blow. But this time another Golem was in position to attack leaving Will only a split second to react. Will managed to dive between the legs of her third attacker.

The fourth Golem moved to intercept Will while she was still trying to get back to her feet but she managed to roll out of the way before the sword struck. Will quickly got back to her feet and fired two more eldritch blasts, one from each hand at the Golem. She managed to fire them so fast; the Golem never had a chance to raise its shield to block them, scoring a direct hit on its head and chest.

But this small victory was just that, since neither blast even seemed to scratch the Golem, if even that! 'How…How can I beat them? My only weapon is my magic and it's not working! Even if I had my sword I probably could not even beat one of them, let alone all four!' Will thought as she tried to back away from the advancing group of metal warriors.

For another five minutes Will dodged and fired at the Golems in hopes of finding a way to win, but all it did was seem like a vain effort to survive. Eventually Will grew tired and was cornered by her opponents. One raised its weapon to finish the half-breed off, who had several cuts from a few close calls from a few attacks. They were nothing serious, but the one she was about to get would be.

"Please don't…I don't want to die!" Will begged through the tears she was starting to shed. Will knew the Golems would not respond as they only did as they were ordered to, but desperate and scared people did anything when in such situations, even if it would do them no good.

Will raised her hand up to shield herself in a futile gesture to protect herself and shut her eyes tight as the massive blade came down towards her, but the last moment a voice roared out, "STOP!"

Will slowly opened her eyes to see the Golem's weapon was hovered just an inch away from Will. The next Will heard was the voice calling out, "Back to your posts!" With that ordered the four protectors walked back to the corners and revealed a panicked looking Abele standing in the door way, dressed only in a white nightgown.

The woman then rushed over to Will who was holding her arms in a protective manner and begging not to be hurt as the half-elf continued to cry in fear. "Will calm down! Its alright now!" Abele said as she took Will in her arms and tried to sooth the sobbing girl.

Normally Abele would be furious that someone was down here with out her permission, but knew there was only one way Will could have even got down here in the first place. Abele had forgot to put the protective wards on the doors and recast the illusion spell that hid it, so Abele knew she was just as much to blame for this mess, if not even more so.

A few minutes later, Julian and Caleb came charging in, both armed with their swords and like Abele still in their sleeping clothes. Both looked over to see the weeping half-elf sobbing into Abele's chest, as the older woman rocked the girl back and fourth.

"Abele was she the one…" Julian started to ask, but a look from his wife said 'Yes, but if you try to scold her in anyway, you better find somewhere else to sleep for a LONG time.' This made the man gulp loudly at the sight and nodded his head in compliance. Caleb on the other hand only rushed over Will's side, so to check on her.

"Is Will alright mother? Do you need me to get any of the cure potions?" Caleb asked in a concerned tone. He often put his friends' safety first, then he would yell at them for doing something stupid, but he saw his mother's glance and knew he would regret it the second his mother was done with him.

Abele smiled at her son's concern, glad to know he was at least starting to build a connection of a sort with Will, but the woman knew this was not the time to play matchmaker so put those thoughts aside…For now. "Will should be alright, but let's get her upstairs and give her one anyway, just to be safe." Abele said as she gently helped Will to her feet and guided her out of the chamber.

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A few minutes later, back in the library, Abele was slowly but surely getting Will to gulp down a healing potion to treat the minor injuries she got during her battle with the Golems. "Must admit Will, I'm impressed. You managed to hold some of the best Golems I ever made off for that long with just your speed, agility and eldritch blast. You'll be running circles around Susan in a few years I bet!" Abele said in gentle joking tone. She was trying to get the still shivering girl to calm down but it seemed the traumatic event had badly shaken Will.

'She was up against some rather formidable opponents, so that's to be expected I guess. Plus unlike the last time she had such odds against her she had friends at her side and was not nearly as close to the death as she was tonight. I wonder if I should ask Sade to call Susan away from the ruins, Will could really use her right now.' Abele thought as she got Will to drink the last of the healing elixir.

Will's wounds healed over leaving nothing but the tiny cuts in her clothes. This helped calm the redhead since the slight stinging sensations they have been causing was now gone, and was helping her come back to her senses. "I'm...I'm sorry. I did not know that was where you kept all those things you protected until I looked at the book. Then when I found there was Warlock stuff I got..." Will started to explain, but Abele cut her off.

"No need to explain yourself Will. That door shouldn't have been in plain sight to begin with, that's MY fault, not yours. I should have been more careful and put back up all the protection wards that would normally have been there, but I didn't. Even if I had the right to punish you, which I don't, I think you suffered enough by facing those Golems." Abele said as she continued to sooth the girl.

Caleb and Julian stayed in the two chairs and stayed out of the conversation, knowing that Abele had taken charge of the situation. Besides they had to admit facing those four was punishment enough for anyone especially since Will was literally an inch away from death. 'At this rate though, I would not be surprised that she decided to never become an adventurer. Having three major encounters that nearly caused her death in less then three weeks at only twelve, that would put anyone off on the idea by the time they were old enough!' Julian thought as he watched his wife try and comfort Will.

An hour later Will was asleep again, her head resting one Abele's lap, the Russell family were glad there were still one more day left before school started for the week. Will was going to need the whole next day to recover enough to be able to handle that kind of pressure. 'Please let her have an easy time there, she's been through enough.' Caleb prayed to every god he knew of, knowing it won't be answered but he had to try. Sheffield Academy was a good school when it came to teaching student's things like academics, magic and combat but it did not have many students who respected the rights of others. Not when you were different and Will was as different as you could get in most peoples' eyes.

It was good thing Will had powerful friends because she was going to needed them.

---

There you go, I hope you all enjored it. I'll try to update soon.


	13. School, Duels & Rewards

Chapter 12: School, Duels & Rewards

AN: Sorry for taking so long with the next chapter, but Wilhelmina Vandom was busy and could not beta read this chapter until now.

But I thank her for her hard work and reviewing the last chapter. I also like the following reviewer as well: Philip Gipson, Darkness-Lightness, KnightofFaerun, The Crazy Talk Kid, Kitsune6, Torquemada Coteaz, GuyverZero, AyameKitsune, JCE1985, Sergio Dumbledore, Live.Laugh.Learn.Love.Lose. and fergnerd.

I thank you all for your support and hope you all enjoy this chapter.

Disclaimer: I don't own W.I.T.C.H. or D&D

PS: Have started a forum in the W.I.T.C.H. section for those have questions about my stories. If you ever worried about the slow updates at time, please drop by and leave a message, I'll get back to you ASAP.

000

Chapter 12: School, Duels & Rewards

The next day after Will's Golem encounter had been a quite one. Abele spent most of it with Will, so the girl was not alone while she mentally recovered from her near death experience.

During this time together, Abele found out why Will had been in that section of the library and had told Will it had been rather ironic the girl had been trying to look up that subject. When Will asked why, Abele merely replied, "You'll find out tomorrow."

Though Will did not get to find out the history of the Gifted, she did get to learn a new skill from Abele that was related to Will's warlock powers. Abele had taken Will into the armory and placed a sword in front of Will.

"Susan was probably going to teach you this when she was done at the ruins, but let's save her some time so she can teach you other abilities and skills. What I'm going to teach you is not an invocation, but an ability that comes naturally to all Warlocks called 'Detect Magic.' This ability works like the first grade spell of Wizards and Sorcerers, but since you can do it through your Warlock abilities it's even better." Abele explained.

"Why is it better because I can do it with my Warlock powers instead my sorcery?" Will asked in a curious tone, since it seemed that either way she was able to do it.

Abele shook her head and smiled at Will's forgetfulness as she replied, "You can run out of magic if you relied on your Sorcerer class for spells to do that kind of thing, but the supernatural magic your Warlock class gives you access to, is virtually limitless. You won't need to waste mystic energy by casting Detect Magic if you use the version you gain through your Warlock class."

Will blushed a bit at this oversight on her part, but Abele assured Will it was nothing to worry about and started the lesson. Abele told Will to focus her supernatural energy into her eyes than focus on the sword. If Will did the process correctly, she should see the sword start to glow.

After a few minutes of repeated attempts, Will finally saw the sword start to glow. "Very good Will. Now before we move onto learning further use of Detect Magic, practice just doing what you have done so far until you can do it five times in a row. That way we can be sure you have gotten the hang of it." Abele instructed and for nodded from Will, who continued practicing her new skill.

Once Will had managed to master perform Detect Magic, Abele told Will what to do next. "Now that you can tell if in an object is magical, its time to take it a step and find out how many different auras there are on an object. To do this, focus on the sword for a minute or two and you should be able to sense the number of different auras it has." Will heard the woman explain and did as she was told.

After a few minutes had past, Will said she sensed three different auras around the sword, which Abele confirmed as correct. "Now for the last part Will, telling what the basic type of each enchantment is. As you probably know, all magic is broken down into Abjuration, Conjuration, Divination, Enchantment, Evocation, Illusion, Necromancy or Transmutation. As you focus on each aura, you'll be able to tell which school each belongs to, but not the exact spell unfortunately. That's a more advanced ability that you won't be able to use for a long while yet. Try to see if you can find out which schools the three spells are related to." Abele instructed as she helped Will learn the last step of her new ability.

"Okay," Will answered and focused further on the sword. After a few more minutes of concentrating Will said, "Two are from the transmutation school and the other is from the evocation school." Abele smiled and nodded her head as said, "Very good Will. It looks you got the hang of it. Next time you and the other girls go an a trip, you might be able to put that skill to good use, depending on what the practice adventure involves."

Will blushed a little under Abele's praise and followed the woman out of the armory as they headed off to get something to eat, since it was almost lunch time. The rest of the day was uneventful after that. Will mostly spent it getting ready for the next day by getting help from Caleb on working on few practice assignments.

Of course, Abele was also the one to suggest to Caleb to help Will, much to said half-elf's dismay. Neither of them had yet to realize of the Sorceress' intentions, which was probably a good thing for her. Neither of them were strong enough to be a threat to her if they did something silly like attack her, but one was a practiced prankster that pulled few on even Susan and the other was pretty clever himself. They would probably get the woman in the end if they caught on to quickly, that was for sure.

000

The next day, Will was as ready as she could be for her first day at Sheffield Academy as a guest student. This of course meant it was rather unlikely she would get any homework since she was not actually apart of the student body, but she would be able to take part of the classes.

Sade had managed to arrange that all of Will's classes had either Elyon, Taranee, Cornelia or Caleb in them so there would always be someone there that Will knew and could help her if something happened. It was a sad truth, but chances were that Will was going need help at least a couple of times that day, but with Meridian's princess, two children of high ranking nobles and the school's brightest student watching out for her, Will was as safe as she possibly could be under the circumstances.

"Is this bag supposed to be this heavy or am I out of shape?" Will asked as she shifted the heavy book bag on her should a bit. She was surprised that Julian and Abele had gone out and got her a few books for her classes, saying that even after her time at Sheffield was over she might be able to make use of them a little for her own studies with Susan.

"It could be worse, you could be a wizard. Imagine how many books you would have to carry then!" Caleb joked, brining a smile to the redhead's face. The tutoring session they had together yesterday let Will better control herself when near Caleb, and it helped her perfect her math skill a little bit…When ever she could focus that is.

"You two better get going or you're going to be late." Julian said as opened the door for them to leave. Outside was a carriage to take the pair to the school, since with both the distance and the crowded streets; going by foot was a bad idea.

"We're going! We're going! Sheesh, if you and mom want to be alone you can just say so! I know about the birds and the bees after all so need to use send us to school as a excuse to get rid of us!" Caleb called out as he and Will headed out the door. Will was caught between wanting to burst out laughing and blushing a deep crimson at Caleb comment, while Julian and Abele were doing one or the other.

Julian was the one blushing from embarrassment at what his son had done while Abele was the one laughing at her husband's predicament. "Oh he defiantly takes after you dear!" Abele said through her laughter and was getting glares because of it. Julian then marched off, grumbling under his breath, "Note to self, schedule three hour father-son sparring match for when he gets home with an Anti-Magic Field in place so he can't use his magic to save himself."

This made Abele just roll her eyes with a smirk on her face, as she called out to him, "Are you forgetting who the one that casts the Anti-Magic Field spell for you!" This just made Julian look back and shout out, "I'll get a scroll and do it myself!"

"After what happened last time?" Abele said as she started laughing again, which got even louder when Julian yelled out, "It's worth the risk! Besides my hair grew back eventually!"

000

An hour later, Caleb and Will arrived out side Sheffield, where Elyon, Cornelia and Taranee were waiting. "Will, over here!" Elyon called out and waved so to signal the redhead to come over. Will seeing this, rushed towards them and was embraced by her friends in a group hug.

"We heard about what happened during the hunting trip. That must have been scary to face that many skeleton warriors. It's a good thing everyone came out alright in the end." Taranee said in a concerned, yet relieved tone. All the girls had the same expression on their faces, which Will found strangely comforting to know there were so many concerned for her well-being.

"It was a little scary but when we could finally stop and fight it was not so bad. Of course Caleb and Julian did most of the fighting, the rest of us just stayed out of the way." Will said to the group, who looked at her skeptically.

"From what I heard when Julian reported what happened to my mother, you took a few down yourself. There is no way to say for sure but I think you may have at least kept anyone from getting seriously hurt. Sir Julian maybe strong, but there was no way he would have walked away with out a scratch if you had not helped thin their numbers a bit." Elyon said to Will, hoping to point out she contributed by taking down twelve to fifteen skeletons before Julian and Caleb finished off the rest.

Before Will could respond in anyway to what Elyon said, the bell rang and the kids still out side moved for the main entrance. "Well, time to go. You got the same schedule as Taranee and me so just stick with us. The only time we separate is when you go for weapons practice, but Matt and Caleb will be with you in that." Elyon explained as she and Taranee grabbed Will and pulled her towards the school, so they were not late for class.

000

The first class was to be the bane of Will's existence, Math! How she hated the subject ever since Susan started teaching her the basics of it. If it weren't for Cornelia, Taranee or Elyon poking Will every time her eyes started to drift shut, she would have passed out. Taranee did it because she believed Will could use the knowledge, while Cornelia and Elyon did because if they had to suffer, then so did Will.

By the end of the math class, Will looked ready to unleash a flurry of eldritch blasts upon her friends if they poked her one more time. "I swear if you guys do that tomorrow, I'm using you for target practice!" Will quietly hissed at her friends as they left for their next class, which was history.

"You maybe a Gifted with three classes Will, but even you can't take all three of us. Not when we are all on the same skill level as you and one of us being a Gifted as well." Cornelia said with a smirk, as they kept walking towards the history classroom.

"Then I'll wait until you're gone and then I'll take down said Gifted and the wizard. After that, I'll hunt you down!" Will countered as they reached the door to the classroom. As they entered room and sat down at their desks, Will noticed that on the blackboard were the words "Gifted History Month" written on it.

'Was that…What Abele meant by it was ironic that I was trying to find out about that subject a couple of days ago?' Will thought as she waited for the class to start. The teacher walked in just before the bell rang, but unlike the last teacher this one noticed Will actually being in the classroom.

The teacher seemed to have a look of mild disgust, making it clear he did not like Will being present. Will personally classified this as a minor worry at most, since most people who looked at her like that, tended to keep it strictly to just mild glares at worst. Will could only hope that it was because of both her race and Warlock class, if it was only because of one then she might be in trouble.

"I see we have a guest. I take it she is with you, your highness, Princess Elyon?" The teacher asked, though the second he made eye contact with Elyon, he seemed to look intimidated all of a sudden. Will quickly glanced at Elyon, Taranee and Cornelia and saw them lock their sights on the man. Even Will was feeling a bit unnerved and she was not even the target of the triple glare attack.

"Yes she is, I hope that won't be problem sir, since she will be here for the rest of the week." Elyon replied politely, a drastic contrast to her facial expression. The teacher quickly shook his no as he replied, "No, of course not your highness! Um…Please Ms, stand up and introduce yourself and state your classes before we begin our lesson for the day."

Will was bit reluctant to stand and speak, but an encouraging nudge from Elyon made the redhead act. "My name is Will and I'm a Gifted Sorcerer, Warlock…" Will started to say but before she could say her final class, a voice yelled, "Oh no a triple freak! She's a demon lover, a half-breed and thinks she's a boy!"

The majority of the class either laughed or booed at Will, some even started making paper balls and chucked them at Will while calling out, "Get lost freak!" or other such insults. Will was looking close to breaking down on the spot, when her friends stepped in.

"ENOUGH!" Elyon screamed in a furry, making everyone go silent. No one dared to act against the heir to the throne, especially not when she was backed up by Cornelia whose fist was now engulfed in a Produce Flame spell and Taranee who looked like she was getting ready to start slinging spells at the next person who spoke.

Elyon then looked at the teacher and asked in a deadly tone of voice, "Are you going to just stand there or are you going to do something about this!" The teacher instantly nodded his head frantically and started handing detentions and saying he would be contacting the students' parents about this attack on a guest of the princess.

Some of the braver students shot hateful glares at the four girls, but they managed to shrug them off. Of course Will had a harder time doing this than her friends, but she managed to draw strength from the fact that her friends were near and would be able to help her through any other problems.

Despite what happened in the class, Will managed learn a little about Gifted history. Today the teacher was just giving them a general summary of how the Gifted were first discovered and how they were treated at first and basic step by step of what led them to be treated how they were today.

The teacher said they would go into greater detail about each stage during the month, but Will at learned the three basic stages the Gifted went through until it got to present time.

The first stage was, of course, the discovery and initial treatment of the Gifted, which Will found out was much like how she was treated today. Gifted were feared for their incredible power and if somebody was discovered to be one, were shunned at best and hunted down at worst.

The second stage was when a time called 'The Gifted Wars' began. It was back when kings ruled Meridian and the king who had ruled at the time, died without having a male heir. This caused all the noble houses to take arms and fight one another for the right to claim the throne for them selves.

The reason the war was called 'The Gifted Wars' was because the nobles realized the power the Gifted possessed and with training, could make them powerful weapons to use against the other noble houses. This started a chain reaction, making the Gifted suddenly become sought out and recruited (by force if necessary) to join one the feuding families.

It was not until ten years after the war began, the last King's granddaughter Weira appeared amidst the chaos and tried to set things right. She was the one who started the line that Sade and Elyon descended from, and also like them, was a Gifted of the Sorcerer and Cleric classes.

Weira had grown tired of seeing the people suffer and her fellow Gifted being used to fuel a pointless and bloody war, so she slowly made contact with all the Gifted of the noble houses and then gathered an army comprised of mostly commoners and moved to set things right.

With the Gifted turned to her side and backed by the people of Meridian, Weira ended the war. The nobles were forced to surrender unconditionally and Weira started the age of where Queens could rule over the kingdom as well. This also made way for the third stage of Gifted history, where they were finally treated as equals without fear of being hunted down to be killed or used as tools of war.

Will could not wait to learn more, finding it very exciting to hear about. The Gifted went from outcasts like she was, to accepted members of society. It gave Will a little hope that she might one day be accepted as well. 'It probably won't happen, not in my lifetime anyway. But maybe one day it might,' Will thought, as the bell rang again and she went with her friends to the next class.

As they left, Elyon broke away from the group when she saw someone she really needed to talk to. "Principal Knickerbocker, do you have a moment? There is something I really need to talk to you about that happened in my last class." Elyon said to the headmistress of the school, who had a serious expression on her face.

"If it's about certain actions taken towards your guest, your highness, then I am already aware of them. One of the other teachers was passing by when the incident happened and alerted me right away. I assure you, I will personally deal with this matter." Knickerbocker assured Elyon before turning to Will.

"My apologies young lady, I had assured Lord and Lady Russell that such events would not happen. I hope you can at least finish the day, but I would not blame you if you wished to not come again after that…That…There is no word that can describe that appalling scene." Knickerbocker said a sincere and kind tone; making Will believe the woman was being truly sorry for what had happened.

"I…I think I can mange the rest of the day. Besides it was only one class and its not like the whole school knows." Will replied, feeling a bit better that at least one person in the school did not hate her for what she was.

Knickerbocker gave Will a sad smile as she says, "My dear, I would not count on that being true for long. News like yours does not keep quite very long in any school I'm afraid. Now that a classroom worth of students know, the whole school will by lunchtime. If things get worse, feel free to come see me and I'll gladly arrange for you to be sent back to the Russell estate."

This news scared Will, not liking the idea that the whole school was going to find out about her in a matter of hours. Will was considering whether or not to just pack in now and head back, when Cornelia put her hand on Will's shoulder and said, "Don't let them win without a fight, Will. You faced far worse things then a few students with an attitude problem." These words seemed to help Will regain some of her inner strength and nodded her head as a way to signal she was ready to keep going.

"Well you all better get going. You don't want to be late for your next class." Knickerbocker informed the girls, who agreed and left.

000

The next class for the day was one that Cornelia was not apart of, since this was when Class related lessons started in the schedule. This class was called Arcane Arts, which was ideal for those who were either Wizard or Sorcerer, which eliminated Cornelia because she was a Druid and used Divine magic.

The old woman who taught in this class had a much gentler aura about her and was much kinder than the last one. Will could tell this by the gentle smile the woman gave her, though the redhead assumed the old woman did not know of Will's powers yet.

As the bell rang to signal that classes had begun the teacher said, "Alright class, as you know we are doing mystic item identification today, so please divide up into groups of three. You have to choose which of your group will be the one casting Detect Magic for the assignment and once you have, then that is the only one permitted to do so. So make sure you choose the one with the highest magic reserves of your team."

This made the class confused and one called out, "But one group would only be made up of two people if we tried to divide into groups of three." This caused the old woman to smile and shake her head as she replied, "If we had our usual number of students that would be true, but today we have a guest of the princess present today. So please everyone choose your groups and I'll hand out each group's first item."

With that, Will, Elyon and Taranee got together and started on deciding which would be the one who would be the one to cast the Detect Magic spell. "Since Elyon has pretty large magic reserves, she should be the one to cast it." Taranee suggested, since Taranee thought Will did not know the spell anyway. Technically Taranee was correct in this belief, since Will did not know the spell; she had it as a natural ability.

"Um…Actually I can use it more often than Elyon can because of my…Special abilities." Will said a bit quietly, hoping to make sure no one overheard her. Will did not see anyone from the history class here, so that meant the only ones who knew of Will's Warlock abilities were Taranee and Elyon.

"You mean you can…That's a handy trick if you ever become a full time adventurer. Detect Magic is a pretty useful spell for that sort of thing. At least until you can use the Arcane Sight or Greater Arcane Sight spells." Taranee commented with a hint of shock in her voice, while Elyon giggled at the dark skinned girl's surprise.

"And here I thought you knew everything." Elyon teased, which made Will giggle as well, but get an annoyed glare from Taranee. It was well known that the young wizard studies extensively both academic and mystic lore, so to be taken by surprise about something and then teased about it, got under her skin a bit very easily.

"Watch it your highness or I'll turn you into a toad." Taranee mumbles as she takes out the books needed for the project, since the other half of the project was to identify the items by the enchantments on them and the appearance of said items.

"Your not strong enough to cast a fifth level spell." Elyon commented with a grin on her face, while Will was bit confused at the spells that were listed so far. She had no idea what any of them were, but they sounded useful or at least the two versions of Arcane Sight did anyway. She did not like the idea of using a spell that turned people into toads, though it would be funny to see Sade's reaction to finding her daughter was changed into one.

"Did I say I would do it right away?" Taranee countered as they got their first item and the work sheet for the assignment. From what they could tell, all they needed to do was solve five items and the actual project would be done, anymore past that and it was considered extra credit.

This made Elyon groan and Taranee let out a very quite evil cackle. Karma seemed to be striking out at the princess, who knew the Wizard was going to make full use of Will's infinite use of the Detect Magic ability, to get every last item and make Elyon suffer through all the research that would need to be done.

Ten minutes before class ended, they had managed to get through all thirty of the items the teacher had brought for the lesson. The 'items' were not the real versions, just wood carved replicas with a few spells cast to create the illusion of the real items' enchantments.

If it weren't for Will's special talent, Taranee's incredibly fast researching abilities and excellent long-term memory and Elyon helping where she could, this accomplishment would not have been possible. But unfortunately though, this was going to lead to a rather ugly situation for the trio.

"Hey! You guys have been cheating! There is no way anyone of you could have had enough magic reserves to cast the spell for all thirty items!" A student who had looked over Taranee's shoulder shouted out.

This had the teacher shaking her head with an amused smile as she headed towards table the three girls were at. "I prepared for this little possibility, since Taranee has a habit memorizing relevant information in advance. I rigged several items to have one less or one more enchantment then they should have, so no one could just look up an item with a matching description and skip it for an easy mark. Since I know that Elyon should be only capable of casting the spell seventeen times at most at her current skill level, I'll give you credit for that many, then a half a mark for the others since you put the extra effort in."

As the teacher turned to leave Will spoke up, despite her friends signaling her to stop. "Actually Ms… I was the one casting the spell, since I can do as many times as I want."

"And how could you do…Oh!" The teacher started say, then looked like she just realized something and went a little pale. After few minutes the teacher spoke again, "I forgot the note I got before class that said your Caretaker cast the Permanency spell on you, so you could use Detect Magic for some of your jobs. Seeing how this was an over sight on my part, you get full marks on this assignment." With that the bell rang and signaled it was now time for lunch, but as Will, Elyon and Taranee were leaving the teacher waved them over.

They stood in front of the teacher's desk and after all the students left, the teacher said, "I apologize Will, I almost let your little secret out because of my carelessness. After what happened in that last class you were in, I thought desecration would be a good idea. I know by the end of lunch, the whole school is going to know of your Warlock status. But I thought the least I could do was give you one more class of peace and quite before the harassment started."

The other girls were shocked at finding out the teacher had known all along about Will's third class and had tried to keep it hidden the whole time. "Why…Would you…Do that?" Will stuttered in a shocked tone of voice. She could not understand why someone would want to help make her life easier, even if only for a few hours longer.

"This is why, my dear." The old woman said raised her hand. After few seconds, it started become engulfed in silver colored energy that was much like when Will called on an eldritch blast.

"You're a Warlock to?!" Will exclaimed, while Taranee and Elyon just stared in shock. No one knew of this little fact, but it was not hard to figure out why. A lot of students and teachers would have caused the old woman a lot of trouble if they ever found out.

"An Eldritch Theurge actually. I trained my Warlock powers and combined them with Wizard training to gain that rank and completely combine the two forms of casting into a single one." The old woman explained, confusing Will at the difference between an Eldritch Theurge and a multi classing Warlock/Wizard.

"It is a Prestige Class Will. Think of it as a way for us non-Gifted to keep up with the likes of you or Elyon. A Prestige Class is gained by learning skills from one or more basic classes, then using those skills to enter one of these more advanced ones and gain newer and more powerful abilities we would not have access to other wise." Taranee explained when she noticed the look of confusion on Will's face.

Will just stared at Taranee as if silently asking, 'Do you spend all your free time looking up random information or something?' This made Elyon giggle at the sight while the teacher suggested they go get lunch before it was too late.

000

In the school cafeteria, the trio met up with Cornelia, along with Caleb and Matt and the group got into the line up. As they got their food and were heading for table, a boy with bright orange hair that stood straight up, along with two large looking boys on either side of him, blocked the group and knocked Will's tray from her hands.

"Oops! Clumsy me! Hope you weren't hungry freak show!" The orange haired boy loudly exclaimed, attracting the attention of the whole room to the scene. Elyon, Cornelia and Taranee stood closer to Will, while Caleb and Matt stood between the girls the three trouble makers.

"You and your goons are treading on dangerous ground Uriah. Insulting a friend of the princess of Meridian and guest of my family is a VERY bad idea." Caleb said in a deadly tone, but the boy now known as Uriah did not seem to care.

"She shouldn't even be here Russell, she should tending to her master's every whim or is that thing around her head just for show?" Uriah replied in mocking tone and pointed at the circlet around Will's head, the one that marked her as someone under a Forced Serves sentence.

"Will's caretaker believes that she could use all the knowledge she can get, so to better fulfill her duties. Now why don't you back off before I make you?!" Caleb growled at Uriah, and was about to reach and grab the other boy, But Will stopped him.

"Please Caleb, just…Let it go and don't risk getting in trouble because of me." Will begged as she clutched Caleb's arm. The pleading look in Will's eyes seemed to put out the fire that was Caleb's anger as he nodded his head in compliance.

But as the group started to walk away to sit down at another table Uriah called out, 'That's right you half-breed warlock lover! Just walk away like the weak, pathetic, coward you and your family are!" What happened after those words had everyone partially shocked. Everyone had been expecting Caleb to be the one to turn around and charge Uriah, but instead it was Will of all people!

Apparently insulting her was one thing, but insulting one of her friends (especially her secret crush) was another. She spun around and ran at Uriah, letting out a feral scream before her fist slammed right into his face and knocked the orangeheaded boy onto his back.

Uriah's two goons/friends tried to grab Will after their tiny brains registered what happened, but Will was too quick for them and gave one boy an uppercut and kicked the other in the gut with a spin kick. Both were knocked on their backs like their 'boss' had been, making those who knew Will wonder if the redhead was really a Barbarian instead of a Fighter, because that was one powerful temper she possessed.

Before Will could do anything else, a loud voice roared out, "What is going on here!" Everyone turned away from the fight to see Principal Knickerbocker storming into the cafeteria. When she saw the three boys who were just getting to their knees and a panting and a still somewhat feral Will standing near them, it did not take the principal long to put two and two together.

"You four to my office, NOW!" The headmistress yelled, which helped bring Will back to senses, but also now made the redhead very scared of what was going to happen next.

000

No less then an hour later, Will was sitting in Knickerbocker's office with Uriah and his two goons that Will now knew were called Kurt and Clubber. The parents for the three boys were now present, as were Julian and Abele. At first, the two Russell's looked very displeased to be here, but after hearing what happened they seemed to be a bit more sympathetic to the redhead's dilemma.

Unfortunately, the parents of the three boys did not so understand, especially Uriah's parents, who were low ranking nobles. "The little beast is just making up stories to make her attack on my son and his friends more noble in cause! I demand she be punished severally!" Uriah's mother screeched out, making Will cover her sensitive half-elf ears because of the volume of the statement.

"An inside voice if you please." Abele stated coldly to the woman, who backed down quickly under the Mage's steely gaze. Abele then placed her hand on Will's shoulder, so to signal it was all right to remove her hands from her ears now. As Will did so, Knickerbocker spoke up. "From what I heard from the teachers I sent to talk to talk to some of the students in the cafeteria, along with what Princess Elyon and her friends' story, all evidence point to the boys starting the whole incident. But I can't ignore the fact that Will did hit the boys, so all four shall be equally punished."

Everyone waited to hear Knickerbocker's decision and most were not very happy with it. "The boys will be suspended for two weeks and Ms. Will is not permitted to come here for equally as long." Julian and Abele knew that despite Will being 'punished' the redhead had actually come out on top. Since Will had been only a guest at the school, being kicked out for two weeks was nothing, while for the boys' it would put them behind their classmates (not that they were keeping up to begin with.)

"This is an outrage! The half-breed gets off easy while these boys, including my own son's studies suffer!" Uriah's father bellowed. Abele once again moved to intimidate the man, but he proved to be a little more strong willed and stubborn then his wife, thus was less affected by Abele's attempt.

"I can only do so much to a guest student, Lord Dunn. But if I wanted I could do much worse to the boys if you desire." Principal Knickerbocker said in a flat, cold tone of voice, making it clear the lord should not push his luck.

With those words everyone was permitted to leave, but once out side the office, Uriah showed how far he was willing to go to save face and his pride in the face of the student body at Sheffield. "You may have got me with a sucker punch half-breed, but I would love to see how you fair against me when it came to skill and not luck!" Uriah said to Will in an attempt to goad Will into his trap.

"It was not luck and if I could I would gladly prove it!" Will stated before Julian or Abele could warn the redhead of Uriah's intentions. Before they could protest, the sole heir to the Dunn family name moved in for the kill. "Then I challenge you to a Spell Duel. Do you accept or are you going to run away." Uriah taunted, while his parents silently celebrated their son's achievement. Will had embarrassed not only their son, but their family name by humiliating Uriah in front the whole school with her surprise attack, so by beating Will in a Spell Duel would negate that humiliation.

"Hold it right there! Will is not of the nobility or a spell caster of any kind of merit! What could you possibly hope to…" Julian tried to say in hopes keeping Will out of harms way, but Uriah's father stopped him.

"What's the matter Lord Russell? From what I heard, the girl if a Gifted in the Warlock and Sorcerer Class, it's not like my son is challenging her to a duel using a weapon of some kind. Surly she can she can handle a contest of skill on the mystic arts." Lord Dunn proclaimed, making Julian go silent. Of course Lord Dunn thought the Royal Knight's silence was because he had backed off, but it was really because Julian was confused.

'The way Lord Dunn phrased it, its like he thinks the only classes Will is gifted are her spell casting classes. Is he…Ignorant of Will's third class?' Julian wondered while Will was looking back and fourth between two noble families, trying figure out what was going on.

"Okay, can someone please explain what a Spell Duel is please?!" Will exclaimed, wanting to know what the big deal was. She had never been so angry with anyone like this in her whole life and wanted to beat Uriah to pulp. This contest, whatever it was, seemed like the best way to do just that, but she wanted know what was going on first before saying yes to this duel.

"A Spell Duel is a match between two spell casters, Will. When two spell casters have a dispute, they agree to a formal duel to settle it, instead of risking it becoming a destructive brawl." Abele explained, hoping Will would say no, but somehow she doubted the redhead would. She was way too much like her mentor to back down from a challenge.

'It's almost like Will and Susan are related, because they are both so stubborn.' Abele thought as she watched Will turn back to Uriah and say those the dreadful words, "When and where."

Before Uriah could say anything, Julian spoke up. "Will, since he challenged you, you get the right to name the time and place. Since I get the feeling nothing I say will get you to back down, let me suggest at noon, in five days from now at the Warmages' Arena. It was made for these sorts of things, so might as well use it."

Will, trusting Julian's judgment, nodded her head and turned back to Uriah and said, "You have any problem with that?" Uriah just smirked evilly, as shook his head no and turned to leave with his family. Will was a bit worried at Uriah's confidence, but her desire to make the carrot head pay for his words about Caleb and his family kept the worry in check.

"Well, looks like I'll need to add a new spell and invocation to your arsenal Will. With them, you should be able to hold your own against Uriah. Despite his appearance, Uriah is a Warmage with Fighter training, like Caleb. So he won't be an easy opponent to beat, but it is possible." Abele said as she placed her hand on Will's shoulder, the powerful sorceress knew she was going need to help Will train hard for the next five days to prepare the girl for this difficult battle. (AN: Uriah Level 1 Fighter, Level 3 Warmage)

"Your…Your going to help me?" Will asked in shock, she had been expecting Abele and Julian to start yelling at her accepting the challenge, not offer help in getting her ready.

"Of course I'm am going to help! You were willing to turn your back when Uriah insulted you, but not when he insulted Caleb and our family. Your methods could have been better chosen, but your heart was in the right place." Abele said with a kind smile on her face, as the powerful woman started thinking of possible strategies to offer Will for her duel.

"But before we do anything Will, I need to ask you something. Why would anyone think you were only gifted in two classes? Lord Dunster seemed to think your only Classes were Warlock and Sorcerer." Julian said, drawing the attention of both females.

"I…Don't know…Wait! Back in the history class, when the teacher had me tell everyone my name and Classes, I only managed to say those two before the class started throwing things at me and I never got a chance to finish." Will answered. Wondering why it was a big deal if anyone knew about her Fighter Class or not.

"Then that can work to your advantage. Though a Spell Duel is mostly meant for casting spells, hand to hand and melee combat is still fully permitted. If you can exhaust Uriah's reserves of magic, he will switch to swordplay and will think he'll have the advantage. But since he is multi classing in Fighter and Warmage while you are a Gifted, your skills will be a little bit better then his when that happens." Julian explained, making the two females understand the reason for his question.

"And here I thought I was the sneaky one in the family." Abele said to her husband with a smile. Julian just ginned as he replied, "What can I say? You bring out the conniver in me."

000

Over the next five days, Will trained hard so she could be ready for her match with Uriah. Also during this time, she learned the finer points of a Spell Duel. The first was that Will needed to do, was choose Seconds, who would act as her support and insure there was no fowl play during the duel.

Will was unsure whom to choose, but under the advice of Abele, Julian and (when she found out) Sade; Will picked Caleb and Elyon to be her Seconds. Caleb was an obvious choice because he was already partially involved, but Elyon was chosen for intimidation purposes. After all, having the heir to the throne as your Second was hardly something to take lightly.

The next things Will learned about a Spell Duel were the three steps that happened at the start of the duel. The first step was, cast a spell on your self, mainly a defensive spell that would help later in the duel. The second step was when both casters prepared to counter spell the other's next move, which would be difficult for Will since counter spelling was a tricky move for Sorcerers, Bards, Warmages and Warlocks; while for Wizards, they usually had an easy time doing this.

There were three ways to counter another magic user's spell. One was to use the same spell to cancel the other out, like use a Burning Hand spell to block another Burning Hand.

The second method was to use a spell that did the opposite of the other spell. The main example of this was if some one casts a Haste spell the other might cast a Slow spell to counter (or vise versa.)

The final method was when another spell caster tried to use their magic, the other would cast either a Dispel Magic or the stronger version, Greater Dispel Magic to try and suppress the other magic user's spell.

The reason why this was tricky for all other casters but Wizards was because other classes learned spells more slowly then Wizards. Since Wizards studied a lot, then they also learned lots of spells as well. This made counter spelling a lot easier for them then others.

The only way Will could possibly counter spell Uriah, was if she learned one of the versions of Dispel Magic, but her skills were not evolved enough to cast even the weaker of the two so it was not an option.

To make up for this, Abele advised Will to cast a second defensive spell instead. The three beginning steps were more of a formality and a tradition, and since Will was only strengthening her defenses a bit more, she was not stepping too far away from those traditions.

The final step was simple, let the spells fly! This was when Will's focus on defense during the first two steps would come in handy, because Uriah would not see it coming until after Will probably got a few shots in.

The last thing Will learned about Spell Duel, was that most times (like this one) it was non-lethal so there was no trying to kill your opponent, which Will liked since she only wanted to beat Uriah, not kill him. Of course this meant Will needed to learn how to 'pull' her spells so they did not deal lethal damage. If a spell did deal damage that could be lethal and it looked intentional, the other caster was fully permitted to do the same, so Will made sure to practice 'pulling' her spells extensively until she mastered the method.

On the day of the duel, Will arrived at the Warmages' Arena near the center of the city, to find a large crowd had gathered in the stands. "Figures Uriah and his family would make a spectacle of this. They probably want to make themselves look good in the eyes of the other nobles and commoners who dislike your race and class, Will." Caleb said angrily as they headed for the waiting room they were assigned, so they could make last minute preparations before the duel began.

"Can't do anything about it now though, at least my mother and several others who support Warlock and half-elf rights will be here as well. That should keep the other nobles in line." Elyon said to Caleb they entered the room and sat down.

While they waited, Caleb handed Will a long sword he had brought along when they left the Russell estate. "My parents want you to use this if and when it comes time to settle the match with a sword. It has an enchantment called Merciful on it. It will make sure you won't have to worry about pulling your melee attacks." Caleb explained as Will took the sword.

"T-Thank you. I'll try not to let your families' hard work to help me get ready go to waste." Will said with a stutter, she was surprised the Russell's were going to such lengths to help in this match, even though there was no guarantee she would win.

"You won't Will. As long as you make sure Uriah gets a few bruises, it does not matter if you win or not. Everyone is going to be expecting him to fly though this match with out a scratch on him, so as long as you make him work for it, it won't matter if he wins in the end." Caleb assured Will, just before there was a knock at the door.

"Enter" Elyon said for the group and in came a woman with light brown skin, shoulder length black hair and brown eyes. She was wearing a full suite of white armor (marking her as a Paladin) and had a great sword strapped to her back.

"Mrs. Cook, what are you doing here?" Elyon asked as the Paladin approached them. Will shifted uncomfortably under the gaze of whom she assumed was Taranee's mother, since this woman had the same last name and Susan had said the woman was a Paladin.

"I'm here to check the duelist over before the match begins, just to be sure there has been no casting of enhancing spells before the match had begun. After that I'll escort you out side and will referee the match from there." Mrs. Cook said in a tone of authority, but looked at Will like she was expecting the redhead to have cheated in everyway possible.

Elyon and Caleb did not like the way Mrs. Cook was acting. She was treating Will just like she treated Nigel, judging Will for her Class and not her actions. 'I swear, if she is the reason why Will looses or gets hurt, Taranee's family is going to be a family member short by the time I'm done.' Caleb thought angrily, as he wondered how Theresa Cook got chosen to referee this match to begin with.

Once Theresa was finished with her inspection and confirmed the only magic aura Will had was coming from the sword she was carrying, led the group into the arena.

000

In the arena, Will went into the main part of the large battle area, while Caleb and Elyon stayed next to the entrance that they had come though, so they stayed out of the way for when the duel began. Ten feet away from Will was Uriah, whose Seconds were Kurt and Clubber, did the same as Caleb and Elyon.

As Theresa signaled the duel to begin, Will cast her first defensive spell. The spell was a first level spell called Shield, which created an invisible energy disk that would float around her and would try and shield Will from attacks.

Shield was also good for protecting Will from another spell called Magic Missile. Magic Missile was also a first level spell that fired anywhere from one to five energy projectiles at a target and never missed. With Shield though, it made the Magic Missile spell useless, since the invisible defense would intercept all the small energy projectiles.

As Will cast the spell, she saw Uriah do the same using a ring on his finger. Caleb told Will that would happen, since Warmages did not have access to any spell that were defensive in nature. All spells a Warmage was taught were meant for offense. So during Spell Duels, Warmages used items that could cast the spells for them.

When the time for the second step was to be done, Uriah took an almost defensive stance, while Will used the new invocation Abele had taught her, using the very same book that had almost got Will killed several days back, during the Golem incident.

The invocation was called Entropic Warding, which caused pinkish red energy to start swirling around Will in a protective manner. This swirling force would help protect Will from some of Uriah's magic attacks.

"What ever that is won't help you Warlock! Eat this!" Uriah called out as he fired a spell called Scorching Ray at Will, which was like the name said, a flaming ray of heat that would burn Will if it hit.

But to Uriah's shock, the swirling energy that surrounded Will deflected the ray harmlessly off to the side. Will just smirked as she said, "My turn." With those words, Will fired an eldritch blast at Uriah and hit him in the chest.

"Owe! You're going to pay for that! Lets see that thing stop this!" Uriah growled out as a small ball of electricity formed in his hand and threw it at Will. This spell was called Lesser Orb of Electricity and like the Scorching Ray, bounced off Will's defense harmlessly.

"What?!" Uriah yelled in anger and frustration, while Will fired another eldritch blast at him. Once again, the blow scored a hit on Uriah's chest and making him cry out in pain. Will was about let loose another attack, when she saw Uriah cast one of the few spells that he could cast at his current level that could get past her Entropic Warding defense, the Burning Hands spell.

The cone shaped wave of fire washed over Will, for once making the half-elf take damage in the battle as the flame made her cry out in pain. 'That…Hurt…A lot. If that is what a pulled version of the spell feels like, I don't want to be hit by the real thing,' Will thought as she tried to recover from the attack while Uriah laughed.

"So that little trick of yours does nothing against Burning Hands huh? Let's see how you handle one at point black range!" Uriah called out as charged forward to deliver the next attack. As Uriah got close, he thrusts his hand towards Will's chest. But out of reflex, Will deflects Uriah's hand and the blast of flame that was meant to hit her was sent harmless in another direction.

Will then countered by slamming the palm of her hand into to Uriah's gut and used a Shock Grasp at the same time to zap him as well. "Aaaahhh!" Uriah yelled as the electrical attack coursed through his body. Just as the shocking from Will's spell stopped, she tried to gather her eldritch energy into her fist so she could punch Uriah. But before she could, Uriah unleashed an attack of his own.

Uriah unleashed a Fire Burst spell, which caused flames to burst out from Uriah's body in all directions. The wave of fire made Will stagger back in both surprise and pain and gave Uriah a chance to recover. The carrot headed boy was furious that a half-elf warlock managed to give him so much trouble and cause him so much pain, but he planned on finishing this duel right here and now.

'Let's see how she likes getting shocked! I'll grab her and cast Shocking Grasp until either she's out cold or I run out magic, which ever comes first.' Uriah thought as he made his way to his flatfooted opponent. Uriah tackled Will and held her down as he began sending energy to electrocute the redhead. It would seem the Entropic Warding did not have the strength to repel a human body or harm it in anyway, so it would not be able to help Will against Uriah's attack.

As Will let out screams of pain, Uriah deciding to have some fun at his opponent's expense by letting her know a few of his father's plans for after the match. "I thought I would let you know that once I win this match, my dad is going to find out who your owner is and buy you off him or her. Then we are going make sure you're a slave for life! That should make sure you finally realize your place in the world!"

As the shocking from Uriah's attack ended, Will panted heavily while saying in a weak voice, "She would...Never...Do...Aaaahhhh!" Before Will could finish her sentence, Uriah had begun his second attack and started mocking Will again. "You would need to have a saint as your owner to refuse my father's offer. When are you going to learn that no one really likes you? Everyone who is your so-called friend, are just those who feel sorry for you! Eventually they will just get tired of you and you'll be all alone again!"

Uriah's words struck a cord in Will's mind. A part of her feared the very things Uriah was saying, but until now they had not been very strong, but Uriah saying them aloud seemed to give those fears real power over the redhead somehow. 'Is he telling the truth? Would Susan and the others really just abandon me someday?' Will thought deep in her mind as the painful shocking continued.

Between both the physical and verbal abuse, a powerful anger built up inside of Will. It was so strong it made Will's instincts take over. After Uriah's second Shock Grasp ended, Will used a Shocking Grasp of her own and took Uriah by surprise. As Uriah yelled out in pain, Will pushed the orange haired boy off her and tried to get back on her feet.

Uriah did the same as well though and casts a Fist of Stone spell, with every intention of knocking Will's head right off her shoulder. But as the cruel boy swings his magically enhanced first, Will ducks the blow and uses the Hideous Blow invocation to channel eldritch energy into her own fist and gave Uriah an upper cut.

Uriah staggers back from the strength of the blow and unable to defend himself from Will's next attack. With her other hand, Will slams her palm into Uriah's face and delivers yet another Shocking Grasp to her opponent. The electrical attack made Uriah let out a scream of pain as the spell damaged his face and in reflex, slammed his stone fist into Will's gut and knocked the wind out of her.

While Will tried recover from the sudden attack on her midsection, Uriah was furious that Will had damaged his face. "I'll make you pay for that half-breed!" Uriah roared and unleashed another Burning Hands spell at Will. The redhead was just able to notice that attack in time to roll mostly out of the way. But some of the flames still managed to hit Will, though it was mostly her back that got a little singed so it was not too bad.

'How much more magic can he use? That ray of heat he fired in the beginning of the match was a second level spell and so was that blast of heat he sent out from his body earlier. The other six attacks were first level spells, so he has been using a lot of magic, but still looks like he can keep casting. If he does not run out soon, I might not be able to win.' Will thought in her mind, as she tried to figure out Uriah's mystic stamina.

Meanwhile, Uriah was figuring out the same thing. He had not planned on having to use so much magic to win the match. Of course he was also not expecting his opponent to have such high level of physical ability either.

'Why does she have so much speed, strength and stamina? She's gifted in two magic classes, so why would she waste training time on physical conditioning? No matter, I should have enough magic for another three first level spells and four second level spells. I should be able to wrap this up before running out of ammo and even if I did, I still have my sword training to fall back on.' Uriah thought, as he tried to come up with a way to win fast and not look weak in front of the whole city. It was unacceptable he was taking this long to beat this girl.

Uriah decided it was time to bring out the heavy artillery and started to cast a spell called Flaming Sphere. It was a second level spell that creates a rolling ball of fire that moves in any direction the caster wishes. Uriah pretty much decided it was time to mow down the competition and this spell was ideal for just that.

The ball of fire was five feet tall and five feet wide, which made Will a little scared of it, since she was unsure of how to deal with such an attack. As it started rolling towards her, Will made sure to start running, because getting hit by that thing could very well finish her off!

Uriah laughed evilly as Will started running, try to zigzag in random patterns to escape his Flaming Sphere. "You're only delaying the inevitable! This is the end half-breed, you'll never win now!" Uriah taunted, hoping to distract Will enough to stumble and get run over by his spell. Fortunately, Will was able to zone Uriah out and focus on escaping the flaming ball of death that was trying to roast her rear end at the moment!

'There has got to be a way to stop this thing!' Will thought as she made a sharp turn, hoping to at least get a little more distance from the Flaming Sphere, but Uriah was making sure the ball of fire stayed on Will, no matter what she did.

'Wait, that's it!' Will realized and came up with a plan to at least slow her flaming pursuer down. On Will's next sharp turn, she fired an eldritch blast at an un-expecting Uriah and scored a direct hit. The orange haired boy was so surprised, he fell over and stopped concentrating on his Flaming Sphere and was rendered motionless.

'Glad that worked, now to finish Uriah off before he gets that thing chasing me again!' Will thought as she drew her sword and charged towards Uriah. Though the sword she was using had a Merciful enchantment on it, Will planed on using the flat side of her sword to just knock Uriah out and end this match before the boy tried any other tricks. To bad for Will, Uriah made use of one before she even got fifteen feet away from the Flaming Sphere.

"Choke on this you freak!" Uriah said as recovered just enough to cast another spell, a Pyrotechnics spell to be exact. Unlike what Taranee did in the ruins though, Uriah went for the 20ft cloud of smoke and fire source for the spell was non-other then his own Flaming Sphere!

The cloud of black smoke quickly engulfed Will and started choking and cough as she tried to keep moving forward to escape it, but at a much slower speed because she was having such trouble breathing. Just as Will stumbles out of the cloud, Uriah casts another spell called Whirling Blade.

Whirling Blade was another second level spell that once cast, the caster takes a weapon like the sword Uriah had now drawn and throws it. The spell then takes control and travels in a 60ft line, attacking anything in its path and then return to its owner's hand.

Will looks up just in time to see Uriah throw his sword and see the weapon come spinning towards her! Will was just barely able to bring her sword up in time to deflect the weapon and watched it fly back over to Uriah, who looked very annoyed his attack failed.

'That annoying freak seems to have all the luck in the world! I only have three spells left, so I better save them for now and fight the little witch head on. If she lowers her guard, I can take her by surprise and hit her when she least expects it.' Uriah plotted in his mind and charged towards Will, his sword ready to strike. Like Will's his sword had the Merciful enchantment on it, but it was just so he did not need to waste time being careful with his strikes. He did not care if Will got hurt or killed, all he cared about was winning the duel, but with the heir to the throne as a friend to the redhead, his parents suggested to avoid such an outcome just so they avoided the princess and her mother's wrath.

Will was able to recover her footing and breath just as Uriah got close enough to strike and blocked his downward slash. "What's wrong carrot top? No more spells to throw at me?" Will said as she locked blades with Uriah, hoping provoke him into making a rash choice in anger and leave an opening for her to take advantage of.

"That's for me to know and for you to find out!" Uriah shot back as broke away and tried a thrust at Will's chest, but the light-footed girl side step the attack and swung her blade in an upward arc at Uriah. The orange haired boy was struck dead on and felt the slash across his torso. He stopped fighting long to look down, expecting to see blood but saw nothing. 'She's using a merciful blade to. Lucky me or I could have very well been killed by that blow!' Uriah thought as he looked back towards his opponent.

"How can you fight so well for a Warlock Sorcerer?! I should be able to completely outclass you in fighting ability!" Uriah demanded, feeling very scared of this girl's abilities. It was as if she was as good at melee combat as she was at using spells, but that should be impossible without training in a warrior based class!

Will just looked at her opponent with a cold expression on her face. This was abnormal for the redheaded girl, but this boy had done too much to her for Will to forgive him for. First he insulted Caleb, then he both physically and verbally attacked her, which led her to realize the truth. Uriah was right, one day she would probably be all alone again or would have people who supposedly cared because they felt sorry for her. If not for this boy, she might have been able to stay ignorant a little longer and been happy thinking people truly cared for her.

"The reason I can fight so well, while being gifted in the Warlock and Sorcerer classes is because…I'm also gifted in the Fighter class!" Will stated in as cold a tone as her expression, then swung her sword at Uriah's and knocked it from his grasp. Uriah backed away in fear and fired a Scorching Ray, but in his haste forgot Will's Entropic Warding would just deflect it.

Uriah then tripped on his own feet and stumbled to ground while Will towered over him, her sword raised to strike and being infused with her Hideous Blow invocation. As Will prepared swing downward, Uriah in desperation and fear, dug deep down and by burning up every last bit of magic in his body, he unleashed a Fire Burst. But Uriah did not try to pull the spell and hit Will with its full force, making the redheaded girl scream out in pain.

When the fire died down, Will collapsed to the ground. It was impossible to tell if she was alive or dead, but Uriah did not care. 'I stopped the freak, that's all that matters. Go burn in the abyss you witch!' Uriah thought as he tried to get back to his feet, but got a nasty surprise when he did.

"You bastard!" Uriah heard Caleb's voice roar out and turned around to a First of Stone enhanced punch to the face. The biggest risk of breaking away from the non-lethal part of a non-lethal duel, was that if person was badly hurt or killed by a non pulled spell meant the Seconds would seek retribution. And boy was Caleb seeking retribution.

Kurt and Clubber were quickly moving across the arena to help Uriah, but were cut off from a barrage of spells from the stands, complements of Taranee and Cornelia. Both girls (along with Snowflake) jumped down to the arena floor and continued firing on the two boys, which made them run for cover while Snowflake chased after them.

But before anyone could continue his or her attacks, Theresa yelled out in commanding tone, "You will all stop right this instant!" They all turned to face the overseer of the match, who first looked over to her daughter and said, "First of all, you're grounded for interfering. I don't care that you think that thing is your friend, you're not a Second and thus have no place getting involved." Before Taranee could protest, Theresa looked towards Caleb, who had a strong grip on Uriah and looked ready to start punching him again.

"The competitor was defending himself from a possibly deadly attack and will not be penalized. Release him at once." The Paladin ordered, but Caleb ignored her and went back to beating Uriah.

Furious that she had been ignored, Theresa reached for her great sword and moved towards Caleb with intentions of making him stop. But before she got close, Sade and Abele teleported in front her and did not look very happy with the so-called judge.

Sade did not say anything and went over to check Will, like her daughter had done in the confusion of the battle. While both Cleric/Sorcerers checked to make sure Will was alive, Abele had a few words with Theresa. "You call your self a judge? I could tell from the stands Will was pulling her invocation and she was using a merciful weapon. There was no way that blow would have been deadly!" The Mage stated, clearly ready to fight any argument the Paladin had.

"A Merciful enchantment can be suppressed by its wielder's will, so the Warlock could use the pulled invocation to hide that possible fact. Her attitude near the end of the match makes her intentions questionable." Theresa stated coldly and seemed to not look like she was going to back down.

"It is also questionable if you're doing your assigned task properly, Lady Cook." Sade said as she stood up and went over to Caleb. She griped the boy's wrist before he could punch Uriah again and said, "You can deal with him later. Right now you should get Will back to your family's estate. She is alive and we have mostly healed her, but I let some injures remain so she will be forced to rest and calm down from what ever Uriah said that angered Will so much."

Caleb reluctantly agreed and let Uriah go and went over to Will's side. He gently picked the unconscious girl up and carried her over to his mother. When his father got down to the arena floor, Caleb and his parents' teleported back home, leaving Sade and Will's friends to tie up the loose ends.

000

Back at the Russell estate, Will was quickly changed into some pajamas and put under the covers of her bed. All three members of the family hoped the rest would help Will mentally recover from what ever Uriah said. Not even Caleb heard what the other boy said when he was shocking the redhead, but he knew it had to have been bad to anger Will so badly.

'Susan, I hope you get back soon. I think Will needs you now more than ever.' Caleb thought as he closed the door to Will's room, leaving her to rest. A few minutes later the figure from the ruins literally stepped out of the shadows using an invocation called Path of Shadows.

The figure took a scroll out that he had hidden in his robes and hid it under Will's pillow. "Impressive battle my daughter, perhaps you're not as worthless as I once thought. But that scroll will be your true test. Succeed and I show you what true power is. Fail and I'll just have to tell his highness it was to much for you, because we can't have a weak weapon after all." The robed figure said before disappearing into the shadows once again.

Will slept through all of this of course, but the seed had been planted. What was on that scroll would change Will's life forever and it would lead to many shocking secrets to be revealed.

000

AN: And there you guys go. I'll try to have the next chapter out soon. Until then, please let me know what you thought of this newest chapter.


	14. Secrets Revealed

Here is the next chapter of Shunned one. I would like to thank Wilhelmina Vandom for beating this chapter and would like to thank following people for reviewing: GuyverZero, CaptainThomas, shocklance, Kitsune6, JCE1985, fergnerd, The Crazy Talk Kid, Philip Gipson, Starwin, KnightofFaerun

Disclaimer: I don't own W.I.T.C.H. or D&D

000

Chapter 13: Secrets Revealed

Will had slept for a whole day after her intense and almost deadly dual with Uriah Dunn. The wounds she had left had healed quickly thanks to Sade's earlier treatment and Abele getting Will to drink a Cure potion in her sleep.

When Will awoke that next morning she felt a little weak, but that was from not eating for a whole day and could be easily fixed with a meal. Will laid in the bed, trying to figure out how she got hear when she was supposed to be at the dual. But then the memories of what happened during the dual came flooding back to her.

'Did one of other others…save me? It must have been Elyon or her mother, since they both have access to Cleric spells. Guess they have not yet turned their backs on me like I know their going to someday.' Will thought as she just lay unmoving in the bed, and then noticed something hard and narrow under the pillow.

Will pulled it out to find a scroll. Becoming curious, Will opened the scroll and read what it said.

_Dear fellow Warlock,_

_I was impressed by your Spell Dual with that Uriah boy and thought you should have a little reward for your struggles. Officially, that boy will most likely declared the winner because of the judge's unfair views on our kind, but you and I both know you should have been the winner._

_In this scroll, is a spell that once you read it, will place a powerful tattoo on one of your arms (which one is of your choosing) This magic tattoo, is the key to an incredible power, that once mastered will give you access to a technique called the Eldritch Lighting Blade._

_The Eldritch Lighting Blade is what one would call a called a hybrid technique, combining a long forgotten spell and invocation into a single attack. The tattoo will do all the work to create the attack, so that part is easy, but the hard part for you is to handle the intense pain of using the attack._

_If and when you succeed, I'll approach you and teach you the finer points of this new power and with it, you will never need to fear anything ever again. Good luck and know that I will be watching and hoping you can succeed in use this powerful ability._

_Signed, a friend._

000

'A...hybrid technique? It sounds like this could combine both my spell casting classes. But should I trust this person? But if it's as good as the note says; I'll be able to survive on my own when the others stop feeling pity for me and throw me away.' Will thought as she considered on what to do with this scroll, when she heard the door start to open.

Will quickly stuck the scroll under the covers and looked to see Abele enter the room with a tray of food. "I was hoping you would be awake! You gave us quite the scare when you slept for a whole day." Abele said with a big smile as she put the tray down in front Will. It was a simple meal of eggs; bacon and toast, with a glass of orange juice, something Will's hungry stomach was going enjoy having inside it.

"T-Thank you." Will said a she picked up her fork and start eating her meal. After Will was done, Abele asked, "How are you feeling? Uriah's cowardly attack really hit you hard."

Will looked up at Abele in confusion as she asked, "Cowardly attack? The last thing I remember was Uriah using that fire blast trick of his and then everything went black. Did he try something after that or something?" This caused Abele to shake head grimly, knowing the news she was about to tell the young half-elf would most likely frighten her.

"Uriah didn't pull his last spell Will. He let it go completely unchecked, making it a very deadly move on his part. If it weren't for all that training toughening your body up and Sade being there to heal your wounds, you might not have survived." Abele explained. As she expected, Abele saw Will start to tremble and look very afraid.

"He…He tried to…kill me? But I thought it was a non-lethal dual." Will said in a scared tone. Not even the Golem incident scared her this much. Then again, the Golems also did not try to burn her alive in supposedly non-lethal dual.

Abele gave a sad and regretful look as she replied, "It was, but Uriah was loosing, so he changed tactics to change the outcome in the battle. It not unheard of for mages to do so when they are about to be defeated; he is using the excuse that you were going to kill him with your next strike, so he attacked first in self-defense. What makes it worse is that Theresa is supporting the spoiled brat's story and has declared Uriah the winner of the dual. We tried to fight it, but we have not solid grounds to change the decision or punish Uriah for cheating."

Will was silent all through out Abele explanation, her mind still trying to grasp the news of her almost untimely end. 'I was not strong enough to defend myself when it really counted. If not for Sade, I would probably be dead right now. But for how much longer will I be able to count on that? I…I need to learn that technique. If I ever need to keep people from hurting me ever again, I'll need that kind if power if I ever need to survive on my own.' Will thought as she tried to figure where she could go practice with out anyone seeing her. Will did not want anyone knowing she learning a technique from an unknown source, they would try to talk her out of by saying it was too dangers.

"Will, are you alight?" Abele asked, feeling worried about the young girl's silence. Had the older woman knew of Will's current fears and plans, she would probably the lock the child up for her own protection and send word for Susan to get to the capital on the double.

"I'm…I'm alright Abele, can I got train for a while? I need to clear my head and be alone for a while." Will asked in hoped of being able to try learning that hybrid attack the scroll mention.

Abele did not like the depressed and quite tone Will spoke in. The powerful sorcerers assumed it was because the girl was still trying to grasp the news of what happen, which to small degree was true, but was far off from the real reason for Will strange behavior.

"I don't think that would be a good idea for you to train so soon after waking up, but I'll make you a deal. Rest up today and we will go to the palace tomorrow. Sade knows the girls want to see you after you woke up and thought it best for you all to get together, the day after you recovered. We can go early and you can use one the private training rooms to do your exercises." Abele said in hopes of reasoning with the young to girl to rest a little longer.

It seemed to work since though she seemed disappointed, Will relented to the Mage's request and laid down again. Abele smiled and took the tray away, wishing Will sweet dreams before exited the room.

After Abele left, Will took the scroll out and began to red the instruction on what to do before she could start using the Eldritch Lighting Blade. In the instructions, Will found out the names of the two original attacks that made of the more powerful one, but found out she could not use either one yet.

The spell was called Lighting Blade, which was a third level spell. At best, Will could only cast second level spells at this point, so the Lighting Blade was beyond her abilities at the moment.

But the spell sounded pretty powerful, since it seemed be a more advanced Shocking Grasp combined with a spell called Haste which made a person move much faster. Unlike a normal Shocking Grasp, which shocked an opponent when touched, the Lighting Blade made the lighting gather in the palm of the hand and then the user charges at their target with their now enhanced speed.

When the user of the Lighting Blade gets close, they aim for the chest or stomach and slam their palm into the target. The lighting focused in the palm combined with the speed of the thrust, deals tremendous amounts of damage to the target.

The second attack, the invocation, was also beyond Will current abilities since it was a Lesser grade invocation. Will could only use Least grade invocations, but like the Lighting Blade, this ability sounded powerful.

The invocation was called Eldritch Blade and seemed like it a Warlock version of the Lighting Blade. The main difference was that the Eldritch Blade was meant for point blank attacks instead of charging towards people. This made have a little less punch the Lighting Blade, but it was still very useful.

At first, Will thought this meant in might at least several months at least, before she could use the hybrid version of the two attacks, but then Will read a small note below the description of the two attacks.

It explained that the tattoo could be used to cheat and use the hybrid version before a person learned the other two attacks. But this put a huge strain on the body and made the user feel a lot pain, but it would let Will at least try the attack out.

'There person said they would be watching, but they might get impatient if I take too long. So I'll have to try and use the Eldritch Lighting Blade tomorrow, no matter what!' What Will though as she rolled up the scroll and hid it under the pillow again. She would have plenty of time to read the spell that put the tattoo on and practice the attack, but now she needed to rest up so she could train tomorrow.

000

Around one in the afternoon that day, Abele was in the study reading, when Julian and battered looking Caleb came in. "What happened?!" Abele asked in shock as she rushed over to check on her son.

"There was debate, they lost and we won…until Knickerbocker got involved anyway." Caleb replied wincing at his mother touch one of the bruises. "Who exactly is we and what this 'debate' about?" Abele demanded as she continued to check on the damage to her son.

"From what Knickerbocker told me when I got a message to come to the school; Caleb, Cornelia, Taranee, Elyon, Matt and Nigel fought half the school in the cafeteria and pretty much destroyed that whole room. Will and Uriah's duel was as big issue as many expected and our son's group disagreed with the majority of the school apparently." Julian explained to his wife in a dry tone, though he silently applauded his son's attempt to defend Will's honor from those ignorant brats' insults.

"How did they destroy the whole cafeteria before the teachers could intervene? And how could Nigel be involved? He does not even go to Sheffield!" Abele exclaimed as her mind tried to wrap around the idea of her son picking fight with half the school!

"Nigel snuck in to see Taranee. As for how they could destroy that whole room before the teachers stepped, think about it for a moment. Five magic users that are well above the average skill level of most the school and a Raging Barbarian can deal out a lot of damage over the course of five minutes" Julian replied and his words made Abele face go pale.

"You mean they…" Abele started to say, but her voice trailed off as the mental images of what that section of the school must look like now. After few second of silence Abele fixed her steely gaze on Caleb, who now quickly started running from his mother. Only a fool wanted to risk being near his mother when she looked that angry.

"Caleb, get back here this minute!" Abele screamed as she chased after her son, while Julian silently prayed his son would live to see another day. 'True he helped destroy a small portion of the school and got kicked out for a month, but I certainly can't blame him for running away from what ever punishment his mother has in mind right now.' Julian thought, as he went to go sit and wait for his wife and what was left of his son to return.

000

The next day, Will, Abele and Caleb were at the palace gates. Caleb was only along because Abele had arranged for Caleb to help clean the stalls as punishment until he was back in school. Will never knew the reason to why Caleb got suspended, other then he got into a fight. Abele and Julian did not want Will blaming herself for Caleb getting into trouble on her behalf, since Will had a habit of blaming herself for those kind of things.

Sade herself greet them in the great hall, where wrapped her arms around Will when the Queen caught site of the redhead. "It's good to see your feeling better Will. I swear the second that boy crosses the line in anyway ever again; I'll make him pay!" Sade stated which made Will give a small smile to the ruler of Meridian, but the sadness of her current beliefs still evident in her eyes.

This unsettled Sade, but Abele discreetly signaled the other woman to not pry into the matter. "Sade, Will has been wanting to get back to her training and I think she has a bit of pent up frustration form the last few days. I think she could use some time alone in one of the private training rooms, if that's possible. And of course, you know I want this thing I call a son to do." Abele said in gentle tone when referring to Will, but in a rough one when referring to Caleb.

Sade nodded her head and pointed off in a direction while saying, "You know where to go. Start with Celesta's lair, she made it nice and mucky for you. Don't worry about Silvia's; a certain daughter of mine is already dealing with her section." This made Caleb shudder at the thought as he started heading to what he considered was his doom.

"Lair? Since when do horses have lairs?" Will asked as she watched Caleb head off for…where ever he was going, the smirk on the two women's faces making her worried for her crush.

"Neither of are them horses Will, they are something much bigger and much meaner then any horse. Well actually, they are not mean unless you do something to Elyon or me first, but they are not pleasant to clean up after." Sade answered, as she motioned for Will to follow.

Will did as she was beckoned, all the while trying to figure out what kind of creatures Caleb was cleaning up after. A few minutes later, they were in front of a large wooden door which Sade was unlocking for Will.

"The room has any equipment you might need and is made to take a beating, so don't worry about having to hold back on your training. Though I would prefer it if you wouldn't push your self to hard Will. You have only just recently recovered from a rather difficult ordeal." Sade warned in a concerned tone, making Will wonder is she should try this new power out so soon.

'No, don't start doubting yourself now Will! You need to do this!' Will mentally told herself, before speaking to Sade. "I'll try not to take it too far." Will replied quietly and as she entered the large training room. Both Abele and Sade watched the redhead go, both feeling a bit worried about the child, but consoled them selves of the thought that Will would be smiling again soon.

'With the surprises we have in store for her, how can she not?' Sade thought as she closed the door and the two women went to go finish preparations for what they had planned.

000

Once she was safely inside the room, Will quickly took the scroll out of the bag she had brought along. She had said she had brought a change of clothes for when she was done with her training, so no one really gave the bag a second thought and made it easy for Will to sneak the object in.

She quickly took off her tunic and opened the scroll to where the tattoo spell was written. Will then started to read from the scroll aloud and as she did, her left arm started to have a burning feeling flow though it.

Will fought the urge to scream as she kept reading and red markings start to form on her shoulder. The markings slowly spread down Will's arm and eventually reached the back and palm of her hand. After Will was done reading from the scroll, she clenched her teeth and started hissing in pain.

The markings were still glowing bright red, but slowly they grew dimmer and dimmer over the course of an hour, the pain weakening along with the glow. Once the pain was gone, Will started panting heavily, the pain had worn her out and she barely had the energy to put her tunic back on.

It took a two-hour nap for Will to get her energy back and was able to finally go for the moment of truth. Could she perform the Eldritch Lighting Blade or not? Will was getting ready to find out, as she red the last part of the scroll. It seemed that using the hybrid attack was the same as using the Lighting Blade, the Eldritch Blade simply just merged with the spell to create single powerful attack.

'Okay, it seems simple enough. Guess now its time to see if I can handle a little more pain and use this thing.' Will thought stood several feet away from a wooden practice dummy and then, she clutched her left arm with her right hand and willed the tattoo to work.

The mystic markings on her arm started to draw energy from both her magical and supernatural reserves. A crackling sound started coming from her left palm as lighting gather in it. This is when the burning feeling returned and Will clenched teeth and shut her eyes tight as the redhead battled the pain once again.

As Will fought to maintain her attack, the lighting changed to a mixture of red and pink in color, like her eldritch blasts would look like. The Eldritch Lighting Blade pretty much complete, all that was left was for Will to go through with it or not.

'I…Must…Do…This!' Will screamed in her mind and redhead's eyes snapped open. Will then charged towards the wooden dummy with her now enhanced speed. Will then thrusts the palm towards where a person's heart would be and slams deadly attack in the target.

The dummy is then blow apart by the force of the blow and Will drops to her knees in pain and exhaustion. "I…did it. Not sure if I can do it again though. Maybe I should have waited until I was able to do it properly." Will said to herself as she panted heavily and hoped her arm would stop hurting soon.

"And make me wait that long to see the results? I don't think so!" Will heard a familiar voice say and make her blood run cold. Will slowly looked over to see a man with short red hair and cold blue eyes and who's body was draped in a black cloak. It was her father, then man she had not scene since she was three years old, yet she could still easily recognized him after all this time.

Will trembled in fear as her father came closer, she also remembered how cold and cruel he had been and did not think he had changed in nine years. "What's wrong Will? Not happy to see your own father? I'm hurt!" Will's father said in obviously fake hurt tone. The man nearly killed her every time he tried to 'toughen her up' or 'bring out her full potential', so somehow Will doubted he cared if she was glad to see him or not.

Will did not responded to her father's taunt and focused on getting pot her feet so she could run, but the man grabbed Will's arm before she was even half way up. "I don't think so. I waited to long for this day to let you run away again. Now, why don't we get going, so I can keep my promise about teaching on how to better use that tattoo? I can teach you things that even that elf would not even think of, so you'll grow much faster and stronger under my tutelage." Will's father said as he tied to pull the redhead towards him, but Will fought back.

Channeling power into her fist using the Hideous Blow invocation, Will tried to punch her father in the gut, but he was too quick and simply let go of Will arm so he could side step the swing.

"If you wanted a sparing match, all you had to do was ask." Will father said in a mocking tone and had an arrogant grin on his face. Angered by this, Will fired off an eldritch blast at her father, but he just moved his head to the side a bit and the shot fired past him harmlessly.

"Let me know when you're finished warming up." The man said as he continued to mock his daughter. He was glad to see the anger in her eyes, anger would be more useful then fear when he started training her again. Fear may encourage obedience, but anger and hate motivated a person to become stronger then the one they hated, which would make the girl a stronger weapon and more useful for his future plans.

"I don't know why you want me back, but I'll never go with you. I won't go through that ever again!" Will screamed as she casts the Flare spell in hoped of blinding her father, then strike while he was defenseless. As the burst of light appeared in front of her father, Will fired another eldritch blast and this time…it went through him!

"A word of advise my darling daughter. You'll need more advanced tactics then that to beat me." Will heard her father voice said from behind her. Will turned her head to see he was actually there, and the spun around to see an image of her father fading out of existence from where he had been a moment ago.

"How did you…" Will said fearfully, start to think that she could not beat this man even with all the training she had done over the last few months.

"It's quite simple my dear. Using a little invocation called Flee the Scene, I can instantly teleport to a near by location, while leaving a realistic image of myself behind to fool my opponents. It's also good for quick escapes, but I doubt you could use it at your current level since it a Lesser grade invocation like the Eldritch Blade." Will father replied in a casual tone, like it was minor trick or at least for him it was.

As Will tried to think of a way to escape this man she called her father, the door the training room opened and the girls, Caleb and Matt walked in. "Hey Will! Long time…no…see. Who is that?" Irma asked as she caught sight of Will's father.

Hay Lin was just as confused as her best friend, but Caleb, Matt, Cornelia, Taranee and Elyon's faces darkened at sight of the man. "You have some nerve showing your face around here!" Caleb said as he drew his sword, while Matt and Cornelia did the same.

Mean while, Taranee and Elyon were getting ready to attack with their spells, making it look like things were going to get ugly really fast. "Irma, you and Hay Lin better get ready for a fight because this guy's dangerous." Caleb said coldly, making the girls quickly agree and draw their weapons.

"How rude! We were having a conversation before you seven walked in. Oh well, if you want join this little party, be my guests." Will's father said with an evil grin on his face and drew his sword.

Will fearing for her friends lives, quickly did the one thing that she knew could save them from certain death. "Don't hurt them and I'll go with you quietly! I'll even do anything you say, just please…don't hurt them." Will begged her father, hoping the man would be more tempted by getting what he originally wanted, over taking a few lives.

Will's friends looked at her in shock, while her father looked at her with a sadistic grin. "All I need to do to get my ultimate weapon is spare a few insignificant lives? Can't really pass up that offer, now can I? But one step out of line, even a smidge and I'll hunt them down…got it?" Will father replied and got scared nod of acceptance from the redheaded half-elf. To bad the others were not going to be so accepting.

"Your not going anywhere with him Will!" Irma yelled out and along with Matt, Caleb and Cornelia; charged Will's father head on with their weapons ready to strike. But the red haired man reacted to quickly and fired a black colored eldritch blast at Irma.

The blast struck its target dead on but then did something unexpected; it bounced from Irma after it her, and then hit Cornelia, then Matt, then Caleb. Each time the blast hit its target it also sent it flying backwards as if repelling the person it struck.

As Will watched in horror her father said, "Don't worry I pulled the attack. I said I would not hurt them, but I won't let them interfere either." As Will's father said this, Taranee and Elyon both fired a Scorching Ray at the man, but he quickly countered by activating his Entropic Warding invocation to block them.

"This is so easy, I almost feel bad that I'm winning. Keyword, almost!" Will's father said as he casts a spell called Sleep to make his opponents pass out. Unfortunately, Caleb and Matt were too strong to be effected while the other girls passed out, but this was only a minor annoyance to the powerful warlock.

"Too bad your Hexblade spells aren't that strong you bastard!" Caleb said as he and Matt got back on their feet, but Will's father did not look effected by Caleb's taunt. Mean while, Will was recalling just how powerful her father was. She knew he was a Gifted, but she never knew what he classes were because she had been too young to understand at the time, but now she did.

Her father's first class was of course Warlock, which is obviously where inherited her own Warlock powers from, but her father's other class was just as frightening despite what Caleb insults about it's magic power, the Hexblade Class.

Hexblades were warriors with access to a limited selection of spells that either augmented their own abilities or hamper their enemies. They also had access to an ability called Hexblade's Curse, which was used to weaken their opponents' abilities. They also had what was called the Aura of Unluck, which affected the ones they were fighting in melee's combats luck to be affected badly. (AN: Tony Vandom: Gifted in Hexblade & Warlock Classes, Character Level 20)

"You have lost boy, just give it up and save yourself a world of hurt." Will's father said in casual tone, but neither Caleb nor Matt listened. They both charged the dark warrior but it was a vain attempt.

Matt was has hit with another eldritch blast before he even got close and was knocked out this time by the attack. The blasts bounced off Matt's chest like last time, but Caleb managed to dodge the rebounding attack and take a swing Will's father.

But Caleb's blade was blocked by the more powerful warrior and was finished off in the worse way, with the Eldritch Blade. Even when pulled, the powerful attacks hurt Caleb greatly, as it struck him in the chest and sent him flying back and land on the ground hard.

"I warned him, but he did not listen. He is as stubborn as his father. Let's get going Will, we have wasted enough time here as it is." Will father stated as he placed one hand on his daughter's should and used the ring on the other to teleport away, leaving the girl's fallen friends behind.

Caleb was still very much awake though and despite being in a lot of pain, knew he needed to get up and tell in his mother and the Queen about this right away. 'Come on body, Will needs you to work so we can save her from that man. Why does Tony Vandom want Will anyway?' Caleb thought as used his sword as a crutch and limped off towards where his mother and Sade were, hoping he would not be too late.

000

Back with Will and her father, they appeared in a clearing with cave in the middle of it. Will was wondering where they were, when he father called towards the cave, "Black Wing! Let's get moving! I don't want to risk having the royal guard following us, so we need to leave!" Tony yelled in a commanding tone. Will was wondering who Black Wing was and why it sounded so familiar. She did not need to wonder long though, because Will heard something moving inside the cave and out came a black dragon.

Now Will remembered who Black Wing was, it was her father's familiar and a deadly one at that. Will also remembered how cruel and short-tempered the scaly creature was and was not looking forward to what her father had planned if her guess was right.

"If you did your job right, then they will not even notice the girl is gone until we are far away." The black dragon growled at Tony, but the man ignored his temperamental partner's comment looked at his daughter.

"Get on and do try to do a better job of holding then when you were younger." Tony ordered, which Will obeyed with out hesitation. She knew her father would be true to his word about going back to finish her friends, so she knew she could not protest about riding the one creature who loved to try and make her fall off when they high up in the air.

"You don't seems happy to see me again, half-breed." The dragon said evilly as he smelled the fear radiating from the girl. He loved how intimidated the girl was of him and enjoyed freighting Will as a child. It brought black-hearted creature such pleasure.

"Would you be happy to see a creature that tried to spit acid at you when you could hardly walk?!" Will yelled at Black Wing just responded, "Your still alive so what the problem?"

"Both of you shut up and get moving!" Tony barked out and climbed onto the Black Wing's back and singled the huge beast to start flying. The dragon obeyed and Will grabbed onto the saddle that was on the dragon's back, or at least what little she could with her father sitting in it. Will mostly just grabbed onto the strap that held the saddle in position and prayed she would not fall off, as they took to the sky.

000

Back at the palace, a cloaked figure was riding at full gallop into the courtyard with a large number of soldiers behind the person. As the figure got close to the castle's main entrance, a servant took the reigns of the mount and person got off.

"Her highness is waiting in the royal gardens my lady." The servant said as he led the horse to wards the castle stalls. "Thank you.' The hooded woman replied and headed for the gardens.

A few minutes later, the hooded figure was with in sight of the two women, they stood and met the figure in a friendly embrace. "It is good your back! Your are probably needed here more then you were ever needed at the ruins." Sade said as she broke away from the figure; who was removing her hood to reveal the face of Susan Vandom.

"What do you mean? Is there something wrong with Will?" Susan asked in concerned tone as she completely removed her cloak. From the way her friend's voice sounded, it seemed a lot had happened while Susan had been dealing with the creature in the ruins.

"With or with out counting what just happened?" Caleb's voice asked weakly, making the three women turn to see the boy being supported by a servant and looking like he had been attacked by a pack a wolves.

"Who have you been fighting now?!" Abele demanded, still very upset about her son's previous brawl. "Would you have preferred I let Tony Vandom take Will with out a fight mother!" Caleb growled at the woman, already in a bad mood about failing to protect Will and did not needed a lecture about fighting right now.

Abele's face went pale at hearing that name, as did Sade's. Susan on hand started to tremble with rage as she said in cold hard voice, "He…did…what?!" Susan was projecting an aura of pure rage right now and it was clear she was going to be calling for blood (mainly Tony's) any second now.

"Me, Matt and the girls were going to see Will in one of the training rooms. When we got there, we found her and Tony facing one another. When we got ready to try and fight him, Will said she would go with him willingly if he spared us. We tried to stop her but…he was too strong. He swatted us aside like flies and teleported away with Will." Caleb explained, looking away in shame as he finished retelling what happened.

"Caleb…there was no way you could have won, so there is no reason to be ashamed. You tried your best." Abele said as she tried to console her son. Susan normally would be supporting Abele in this attempt, but right now she wanted to focus on getting Will back from that monster.

"He has already taken one daughter from me, I won't let him take another!" Susan growled out as focused on the bracelet on her wrist, and used it connection to the circlet on Will's head to find the young girl. Mean while Sade, Abele and Caleb looked at the woman in shock, had she declared Will…her daughter?

'It's about time!' Both Abele and Sade thought and had feeling Tony was going to hate his soon to come confrontation with his former wife. But few seconds they heard Susan let out a growl frustration and anger then heard the woman yelled out, "They're travailing by air and are moving to fast for me to be able to teleport to their location. I…can't save her. I failed Will like I failed Wilhelmina twelve years ago." Susan's lat words were said in her knees as she started crying over loosing another child to her former husband.

As Susan sobbed away, Sade realized something. 'Will and Wilhelmina…could they be…' The queen started to think, when a female voice called out from overhead, "Teleporting maybe out, but what about flying?" Susan stopped crying and looked up to see someone she had not seen in years.

"Serenity?!" Susan called out as gold dragon landed down in the garden.

000

An hour later, Will was still holding on for dear life. Black Wing had taken the liberty of keeping the flight 'entertaining' but Will often wondered who he was trying to entertain. It certainly was not fun for her, that was for sure!

'One more dive bomb and I'm going loose what ever is in my stomach!' Will screamed in her mind as they flew along. For the moment at her father command, they were flying straight and fast. He was not in the mood for Black Wings games when they had an important mission to finish.

'Once we get her back in his highness' territory, we will have another weapon to use when we are ready to attack Meridian. Or at least 'we' will until it's my time to act. Then I'll use the girl's power to help me over throw that brat and take command of MY kingdom!' Tony thought as they the got with in sight the eastern mountains. They marked the end of Meridian's territory. After they got past them, they would be in what was called the Dark Lands, a place where many evil races lived and was currently trying to be united under Tony's master's rule.

'He probably won't succeed in unifying all the tribes and clans, but at least he can build an army that will take this kingdom by storm. That's when I'll…wait. What is this feeling? No! How did she catch up so quickly!' Tony thought as felt like an invisible weight get place on him. It was the feeling of a Dimensional Anchor spell being placed on him, prevent him from teleporting or using other form of instant magical transportation.

Tony then looked back just in time to see a lighting bolt come flying at him. He barely moved his head out of the way in time to dodge it and saw a golden colored dragon flying towards them. "Blast that woman! She never knows when to call it quiets! Black Wing evasive maneuvers!" Tony commanded, knowing an air battle was not to their advantage.

Black Wing did as he was told, he was under no desire to go toe to toe with Serenity, not after what happened the last time they fought. 'It took forever for my wings to heal she tore them to shreds!' The black dragon thought as he to shake his pursuer, much Will's dismay.

'Who is following us? Can't be anyone I know of, because I don't know anyone who knows a gold dragon.' Will thought as she tried to hold on tight and stay down as lighting bolts fired at them.

No matter what Back Wing did though, the gold dragon stayed on them and was now flying overhead. Will looked up to see figure jump off gold dragon and land on Black Wing's back. "Susan?!" Will gasped as she saw her teacher touch down, noticing the woman seemed to be floating more then standing. Unknown it Will, this was because of a Fly spell that Susan had cast before jumping off her partner's back, knowing the that fight on the Black dragon's back would be impossible.

"Long time no see Tony. I believe you have something I hold dear to me, two things actually. But I'll make sure Will is safe before I beat the location of our daughter out of you!" Susan stated as she drew her sword for battle.

"You should have never come Susan. I won't loose this time." Tony said coldly as called on an invocation called Fell Flight to start flying as well so he could fight Susan on equal terms. Will just watched the two adults stare each other down, apart of her wondering what Susan meant by the 'their daughter' comment.

"If you to are going to fight, it certainly won't be on my back!" Black Wing stated and started whipping around in an attempt to shake its 'passengers' off.

"Aaaahhh!" Will screamed as she flung off and started free falling towards the ground below. Both Susan and Tony both moved to save Will, but each of their reasons were as different as night and day. Tony just wanted his key to more power and Will could not be that key if she was dead, while Susan on the other hand was doing it out love and concern for the girl's well being.

"It's alight Will, I got you!" Susan called out as she reached for Will, but Tony was not going let the dark haired woman succeed. "No your don't!" Tony yelled as he cast Dispel Magic to cancel out Susan's Fly spell. The sudden loss of her spell made Susan drop slower because of a sudden updraft and let Tony fly past her.

As Tony reached to grab Will, though Susan proved she had not given up, by using a Telekinesis spell to fling Tony away from Will, then pulled the young girl into her grasp. Once Will was in her grasp, Susan casts another fly spell so they would stop falling.

"Are we on the ground yet?!" Will cried out with a sob, her eyes had been shut tight since getting flung off by Black Wing and dared not open her eyes until she was sure her feet were on solid ground again.

"Not yet Will, but we will be soon." Susan told the frightened girl, who was clinging to Susan for dear life. Will berried her face into Susan's shoulder and continued to sob lightly, hoping there would be no more falling in the near future.

Susan tried her best to comfort Will, but suddenly was opened upon by a barrage of eldritch blasts. Tony was making it clear he either going to have Will or kill her in the attempt to get her back.

As Susan started dodging the blasts, Will starting wishing the two would land and finish this on the ground. Susan was of course trying to do this, but Tony's attacks were not making it an easy task.

000

Back with the dragons, Black Wing and Serenity were continuing their air battle. Serenity was clearly the bigger, stronger and faster of the two, but Black Wing was proving to be a bit more agile so it he was keeping out the way of gold dragon's attacks.

Serenity would try to breath fire at Black Wing, but the other dragon would counter by spewing acid right back. Back Dragons preferred ambush tactics over head on conflicts and Black Wing was no exception. But he was clearly not going to be able to do this, because Serenity was sticking to him like glue.

"Your going down this time Black Wing! There is no escape!" Serenity roared as she let loose another blast of fire from her mouth, this time hitting the black dragon dead on. But it did not do much damage to the black dragon's tough hide.

"I have no intention of dieing this day you gold plated pest!" Black roared back and let loose another stream of acid from his mouth. The acid hit one of Serenity's wings rendering it useless, but as the gold dragon fell, she made sure to drag the black dragon down with her!

As Serenity felly, she latch onto one of Black Wing's wings with her claws and shredded it to pieces. "Not again!" Black Wing roared as both great beasts to hit the ground hard. Both weakly got up and shook of the dazed feeling before they started to circle one another.

After a minute of doing so, both gold and black dragon lunged at one another. They bit, clawed and slammed one another, each trying to destroy the other. Serenity was proving to have the advantage, since Black Wing's superior agility was only present when flying. On the ground, they were both pretty even in that department.

Of course, Black Wing was getting his fair share of attacks in at well and both looked pretty badly beat up. Each had huge slash and bite marks in their scaly hides and were covered in their own and each other's blood. When dragons fought, they went all out.

"Time to end this battle!" Black Wing roared as he spewed out more acid, but Serenity was able to get in close and slammed her claw into the side of Black Wing's face. This knocked his aim off and sent Black Wing's acid flying in a direction away from Serenity, and leaving the gold dragon an opening to deliver the finishing blow.

Serenity pulled Back Wing to the ground, than sunk her teeth into Black Wing's exposed throat. Serenity held her jaws in place until her enemy moved no more, signaling it was over. After she released her hold, Serenity started to walk away but exhaustion finally over took the gold dragon and she collapsed.

'I hope you can win on your own Susan, because I'm too weak to help at the moment.' Serenity thought as she slowly drifted into a deep sleep. Her wounds would not kill her but had been enough to take her out battle and leaving Susan to deal with Tony alone.

000

Back with Susan, Will and Tony; the chase was still on. Tony was the was the one doing most of the attacking, but that was only because Susan was more focused on getting Will somewhere safe on the ground before going on the offensive.

'That bastard! He wants Will for some reason, yet he is going to get her killed at this rate!' Susan growled in her mind as she and Tony flew through the air, both competing for who would claim the child in Susan's arms.

"Give me that brat, Susan or I'll…Aaahhh!" Tony started to yell out, but the started roaring in pain. Susan was confused a second for the reason for all this, but then realized what was happening. 'Looks like Serenity came out the victor of her battle. I hope she was not too badly hurt during the fight.' Susan thought as she came to the conclusion that Tony was now suffering from the sudden mental feedback of having one's familiar killed. It was something all Wizards, Sorcerers and Hexblades feared would happen, but having the loyal life-long companion often made them take the risk.

Susan quickly took advantage of the situation and landed to the ground behind a rock face, then started to check and make sure Will was all right. "It's okay sweetie, you can open your eyes now. We won't be flying again anytime soon." Susan assured the young redhead and gently caressed the girl's cheek in a motherly fashion.

Will slowly opened her eyes to look into Susan's and had a suddenly felt all warm in side at the loving expression on the woman's face. Will wondered what this feeling was, but pushed those thought aside as she asked, "Why…Why are you here?"

Susan felt hurt by Will's question, because the tone was filled with disbelief and shock. It was almost like Will had been expecting no one to care that she was being taken away. "I'm here to bring you back home Will. But first I need to beat some information out of that man. Wait here until I get back." Susan answered and headed out to face off against her former husband.

Will watched Susan leave and quickly went to peek around the rock face, not wanting to miss seeing this confrontation. Despite still believe she would be abandoned one day, Will still hoped Susan would win. The woman had trained and protected her and would always hold a special place in the redhead's heart.

It was the place a mother would normally fill a child's heart, something the young girl finally realized after all this time. 'I wish she was my mother. Maybe then I would never have to be alone.' Will thought sadly as she watched her father recover and stare Susan down.

000

"You should have ran, Susan. You would have gotten the brat safely back to the caste and out of my reach…for a short while at least." Tony said as he got into a fighting stance. Susan did the same as she replied, "I want both my little girls back Tony, not just Will. After I beat you, I'll find out where you're hiding Wilhelmina and have my family back!"

Tony looked confused for a moment, then slowly stated to chuckle until it become and all out fit of laughter. The laughter infuriated Susan and made her roar out in anger, "What do you find so funny you monster?!"

After a few moment, Tony stopped laughing like a mad man and grinned at Susan evilly as he replied, "You don't get it do you? Take a look at the girl and think. Didn't you once notice she has my hair, your eyes, your skin, and your face? Take all that into account along with the fact she is a half-elf and has Warlock and Sorcerer blood in her veins, what do you get you foolish woman?!"

Susan was stunned by Tony's words and implication. Not once did she think of any of that and truly made her feel like a fool. If what Tony was saying was true, then her child had been by her side all this time!

"If that is the case, then all that is left for me to is make sure you can never hurt Will ever again!" Susan growled as she dove at Tony and both began their deadly dance. When this fight ended, one would walk away the victor, the other would be sent on a one-way ticket to meet the god of death in the afterlife.

000

Through out the whole verbal show down between Susan and Tony, Will listened intently. When she first heard Susan say she was here for both her little girls, the half-elf's hopes began to rise. Susan was claiming Will as her child as well this mystery girl, it made Will finally believe someone truly cared for her.

But then her father's words hit Will harder then they had hit Susan. Will could not believe it, Susan was her actual mother? The one parent she dreamed of meeting as a little girl had been looking after her for the last few months? It seemed too good to be true!

'Please…don't let this be one of dad's lies.' Will begged what divine beings that might be listening, as well as pray that Susan would be alight when this was all over.

000

The battle between Susan and Tony was fierce one; both to Will's great surprise were using the Soaring Blade sword style at a master's level of skill. Will did not know it, but back when Tony and Susan cared for one another, Susan had taught the fighting style to Tony and now both were trying to use it to destroy each other.

A master of Soaring Blade was a sight to see, since this principle of the style was to be in constant motion. This was why a key part of the style was the prediction of your opponent's movement, because if a person was constantly moving and did not predict how their enemy was going to react, could be cut down before they had a chance to defend them selves.

This was even more important when fighting another practitioner of Soaring Blade because if your opponent was constantly moving like you were, they were negating your initial prediction and making their own as well. In the end, it was going to be a contest of who would out maneuver the other that would determine who survived this deadly dual.

Will watched in awe as her mother and father fought. Their blades were a blur to Will, the only reason she knew they were being blocked was because of constant clashing sound the two swords made when they hit another.

Will wondered is she would even half as good as either of her parents when it came to using Soaring Blade. The two moved constantly at high-speeds and occasional performed acrobatic maneuvers, where one or both would jump into the air and attack at odd angles, then launch at one another when they touch back down on the ground.

Eventually though, the two combatants broke away from their battle and tried to catch their breath. Both were heavily winded from the non-stop fighting. Tony knew he needed to kick things up a notch and activated the one thing Susan had been worried about.

Tony used his Hexblade powers to call on his Aura of Unluck and could very well tip the scales in this battle. Susan countered by casting Cat's Grace and Haste for a boost in both speed and agility, hoping that would at least keep her on even ground.

It was not to be though, because the Aura of Unluck quickly took effect and made Susan miscalculate her speed and aloud Tony to knock Susan's sword from her hand. The sword hit the ground at a bad angle and shattered on impact, the strain from the earlier action taking its toll on the blade.

But Tony's small victory was short lived, as Susan fired a green ray of light from her finger and Tony's sword vanished into thin air. The ray the elvin woman had fired was called Disintegrate and as the name implied, it disintegrated what ever it touched.

Susan then jumped further back and gripped her arm liked Will had done earlier when practicing the Eldritch Lighting Blade. Will was shocked to see it the spell version Susan was using, as the lighting gathered in her mother's hand and looked the woman was planning on using the deadly attack to try and finish Tony off.

Tony was not beaten yet though. He jumped back as well and to Will's horror, called on the hybrid attack to counter Susan's spell. Unlike Will's Eldritch Lighting Blade, Tony's attack was black in color and looked a lot stronger then Will as well.

Will was about scream out for her mother to run, but then noticed her mother's attack was changing as well. The Lighting Blade seemed to become stronger and gave off humming sound to go along with the crackling sound of electricity. Will heard of this ability, it was called Energy Admixture and was powerful trick to use with combat spells.

Most combat spells fell under five damage categories Acid, Sonic, Cold, Electricity or Fire and with the Energy Admixture ability, a magic user could add one of these energy types to an existing spell. Doing this double a spell destructive power and if Will's guess was right, her mother's attack was now equal to her father's.

It was contest of what was better. Tony Vandom's Eldritch Lighting Blade, which was combination of two different attacks or Susan's super charged Lighting Blade. They were about to find out because they then charged at another other, thrusting their hands forward to strike.

The Blade attacks met one another head on and both magic users tried to over power the other. It was looking pretty even until Tony used a trick only he (and possibly Will when she got stronger) could do. He powered up an Eldritch Blade in his free hand and slammed it into his Susan's shoulder and sent the woman flying back in pain.

As Susan landed on her back, Tony opened fire with a wave of eldritch blasts. In a surprising act, he pulled the attacks and barraged the now helpless woman. By the time he was done, Susan looked badly beaten up. Her clothes were torn or scorched from the blasts and she was bruised all over.

As Tony advanced on Susan's prone form he said, "I was originally planning on killing you, but I think I now have a much better idea. I'm bringing you both back with me and I'm going to find out if we can produce another little weapon. We gave birth to one child who is Gifted in three classes, lets how many more we can have."

Susan looked up at the man contempt as she weakly replied, "You see your own daughter as nothing more then a weapon? You disgust me." Tony just laughed at her and leaned down to touch Susan's face in a seductive manner. It made Susan sick that he dared do this, but was powerless to stop him.

To bad for Tony, his battle was not over yet, because he still had one more person to face before he could say he won, Will. The redhead stepped out from behind the rocks she had been hiding in and demanded in cold voice, "Get your slimy hands off my mother!"

Tony looked over to see his daughter taking a stance that would prepare her to use the Eldritch Lighting Blade, the attack he had given her access to because of his scheming.

"Do you honestly believe you defeat me with a weaker version of MY attack? You could barely use it when you magic reserves were full and did not know of the full force of the pain you would endure. You probably barely have enough magic to even create the attack, let alone hit me with it!" Tony mocked his daughter, clearly confident he would defeat this girl, since she was much weaker then her mother.

"I won't hit you with it…I kill you with it!" Will screamed and called that tattoo's power and created the powerful and painful attack. Tony's face darkened at his daughter's threat and got ready to use his own Eldritch Lighting Blade. He had Susan now, he could afford to kill the girl and make a new weapon, an obedient one.

"I hope you said your prayers brat, because this you last day on…" Tony started to say, but suddenly found himself unable to move or even speak! 'What's going on?! A Hold Person spell? But from…dam you Susan!' Tony though as he realized the woman behind him still had enough strength left to use her magic. If Will managed to pull off using the Eldritch Lighting Blade while Tony was unable to move, he would be killed for sure!

Will's hand arm quickly started to burn again as she powered up the deadly attack. The pain was felt even worse then before, but Will did not care. She would not fail in protecting her mother!

Will then charged forward and when she got close, slammed her powerful attack right Tony's chest. The super charged palm thrust struck right where the evil Warlock's heart would be and the attack punched a hole right through the man, killing him instantly.

'For once in my life, I was not worthless.' Will thought as she passed out. The pain and exhaustion of using the attack a second time was too much for her and collapsed. Susan released the spell on Tony's corpse and watched it crumble to the ground before she slowly crawled over to her daughter's side. Once there, Susan made herself sit up and place Will's head on her lap, trying to make unconscious girl as comfortable as Susan could.

'Once I regain enough strength, I teleport us back to palace sweetheart. Sade will be able to treat you wounds then.' Susan thought as she looked down at her slumbering daughter, knowing much more about her former husband's tattoo then the redhead did.

The pain Will felt when using it was from the forcing of mystical energy to do something it could not yet do, so Will was actually doing terrible damage to her body and let untreated, could be cripple Will later in life.

Fortunately, it sounded like this was only Will's second time using the Eldritch Lighting Blade. So taking that into account, along with Will still being young, strong and healthy and the fact Sade was dam good Cleric, the long terms damage should be nothing at all.

As Susan ran her finger through newly discovered daughter's short red hair, she heard a loud roar overhead. The elvin woman looked up to see a large silver dragon swoop down and land in front of Susan and Will.

Sade jumped down from the new dragon's back and looked the two over, then looked over at Tony's body cringed at the sight of the hole in his chest. "I hope you got the information you wanted out of him before you killed him." The Queen of Meridian commented as she leaned down to check on Will.

"Tony actually told me of his own free will. He wanted to mock me for being so blind to not realizing it sooner." Susan said as she looked down at Will and the Queen caught onto the subtle hint.

"I was actually wondering that just before you left. The fact Tony wanted Will, her classes and race, even the names were similar. Of course I did not have time to tell you, since you left so quickly. Not that it was important considering the circumstances." Sade said as she examined Will body, then gasped in shock.

"I see you noticed. It seems Will learned it somehow, she probably has the tattoo on her left arm to prove it." Susan answered the soon to come question and made the Queen quickly to starts casting a healing spell.

Will was going to need to sleep off most the effects still, but at least now the damage had been reversed. There side effect to Will's mystic energy that would need time to recover and no spell would be able to help, only a lot of bed rest and no use of magic for a while.

"Let's get you both back to the palace. Celesta, can you please help Serenity get back?" Sade asked her familiar , who nodded her head in response. "Of course Sade. I saw where she was when we flew here, it might take a while to get back though. Her wing looked badly damaged." The silver dragon responded and too to the sky again to go help her fallen comrade.

With that, Sade teleported her two patients back to the capital. Both were in needed of a long rest after this ordeal.

000

'Where…am I?' Will wondered as she finally woke up. She was starting to wonder if she was making a habit of waking up clueless when heard a voice ask, "Will, are you awake?"

Will looked over to the spot next to her and as her blurry vision cleared, she found Susan lying next to her. Though the bruises the woman had gained were gone, Will could tell Susan was far from full strength still.

"Hey there sleepy head, how are you feeling?" Susan asked as she gently ran her hand down the side of Will's face in a comforting manner. Will was silent for moment, enjoying the gentle physical contact before she finally answered, "Very weak for some reason. What happened Susan?"

Susan smiled and tapped Will on the nose before saying, "Now why are you calling me that? I think you know what you should be calling me." Will just turned her head away, like she was ashamed and replied, "Do I even deserve to call you that?"

Susan, shocked Wills words, pulls the young girl closer and makes Will look her in the eye. "Where is that coming from? In fact, you were acting strange when I came to get you away from your father. Did your father saying something I should know about?" Susan asked gently but made it clear Will needed to answer truthfully.

Will tried to remain silent but her mother's gaze made the girl's defenses crumble and relent to her mother's demand. "I had a spell dual with this boy Uriah and he…said things. Things that made so much sense they have to be true." Will answered trying her best to break eye contact with her mother, but was being thwarted every time she tried.

Susan's eyes widened at this news, she had been told of the dual and that the boy had been taunting Will with something during the match, but no one knew what he said. What ever it was had clearly affected Will in ways Susan did not like.

"Will I need you to tell me what he said so I can set every thing straight. I have no doubt what so ever the boy had were meant to hurt you, not actual facts." Susan told her daughter firmly, hoping she could Will to open up a little and let Susan make things a little better for her little girl.

"He said…people only cared about me because they felt sorry for me and that one day, they would just throw me aside when they got over it." Will told her mother, as her eyes starting to fill with tears. This made Susan pull Will into a comforting embrace, silently making a vow to kill that boy when she got her hands on him.

'I thought I helped Will stop thinking like this, but I was obviously wrong. Uriah Dunn seems to have destroyed a lot of my attempts help Will and now I have to start all over again.' Susan thought as she tried to calm Will down again.

After Will stopped crying Susan pulled away bit and said, "Will, you should not listen to a word someone like Uriah Dunn says. They'll say anything that will hurt someone and is often far from the truth, like this time for example. Do you think your friends would have tried to fight your father if they did not truly care for you? That alone proves Uriah was lying."

The words seemed to have had the intended effect, because a hopeful look filled Will's eyes and asked, "So no one is going abandon me? I won't be alone again?" This made Susan nodded her head, assuring the young girl everything was going to be all right.

After that Will curled up into her mother chest, finally able to lower all of her defenses for the first time in her whole life. There where of course lots of questions she wanted to ask, so thought now would be as good a time as any. "Mom...what happens now? Will anything change from what it was like before?" Will asked, knowing full well that thing rarely stayed the same after something big like this.

Susan smiled down at her daughter as she replied, "A few things, the first of which is this has to go." With that, Susan gently removed circlet from around Will's head. Susan also removed the bracelet from around her wrist and placed the two objects on the near by nightstand.

"B-But what about my sentence? Don't I still have to pay off all that gold?" Will asked as she watched her mother put the symbol of her punishment down. She liked the idea of having the object off her head, because even though she was sure Susan would never use to hurt her, Will was still scared of having something that could electrocute her at anytime on her head.

"Will sweetie, do you honestly think I'll have my own daughter working for me? Besides, Sade paid off your debt the moment she found out you were my daughter. I bet Lord McDohl is going to be receiving the money with in the next three days. I hope he does not horde it all to himself, but knowing him I wouldn't put it past him." Susan replied, hating the fact that in a way she way paying that man for her daughter's freedom. The elvin woman was going to make McDohl paid for making Will's life so hard for who knows how many years.

"Now for the next matter of business Will. How did you end up in Trader's Central? Your father made it clear he planned on using you as a weapon so I can't see him just letting you runaway so easily." Susan asked, wanting to know how her little girl ended up on her own in one of the worst towns for half-elves.

"It's hard to explain. One day back when I was three years old, this man in white armor found the small hut in a swamp me and dad lived in and took me away. Dad chased after us and was catching up fast, so the man took out a scroll and the next thing I knew, I was in a village full of other half-elves. A kind couple took care of me until I was eight when a large group of humans came into the village and burned it to the ground. The couple that raised me said they were going to go live in Elvin lands after that, but when we tried to get pasted the great wall, the guards stopped us. The couple tried to force their way through...but...but..." Will tried to say as she explained her story, but tears quickly started to fill her eyes and make it clear of the fate of her caretakers.

"Shhh Will, it's alright. You don't need to explain anymore. If I ever get the chance, I'll make McDohl pay for what he and his men did, I swear it." Susan said as she comforted her daughter.

While she waited for Will to settle down again, Susan tried to figure out who was the man in white amour that saved Will all those years ago. 'The only one I can think of is Dean Collins. He disappeared right after Tony kidnapped Will, so it would make sense that he would chase after Tony and try and brining him to justice. It's what Paladins do after all.' Susan contemplated, hoping the man was all right. But considering who Dean had been up against, Susan did not think anyone would be seeing Dean Collins ever again.

After a few more minutes, Will finally clamed down and asked another important question that had been bothering her. "Mom...how do you know how to use the Lighting Blade spell? The scroll dad gave me said the Lighting Blade was a forgotten spell."

Susan was glad Will asked that question; Sade had found the scroll laying on the floor of the training room when she went to check on the girls before coming after them and like Susan, was not with what she had read.

"Will, that scroll was written in a way that meant to deceive you. One of the deceits was the truth about the Lighting Blade. You see, I created the Lighting Blade years ago and was what inspired your father to create the Eldritch Blade and later, the combination of the two attacks. I assume your father wrote that message the way he did so you would not think of showing me or someone else the scroll." Susan explained as she tried to brace herself for telling Will some other important news about that scroll.

"Now Will, what I'm going to tell you next is very important. After your feeling a bit better, we are going to need to remove that tattoo and put the proper one on your arm. The one you are using right now was the first one your father invented and it was far too dangerous to be used. I can't believe he did not give you the one he used; the one we made if we had a child like you; one that could use the Eldritch Lighting Blade to its fullest ability." Susan said, causing Will to look into her mother's eyes with a shocked expression on her face.

"What do you mean by dangerous?" Will asked with fear clearly evident in her voice. Susan could not blame Will for being scared, most would in such a situation.

"The tattoo you're using right now Will, is like magic items in many respects. Like an item, is casts a spell you can't do yourself, but there is a key difference. Most items have 'Charges' of magic built into them, but in the case of your tattoo, instead of using charges, it draws power directly from your own mystic reserves." Susan explained, then braced herself for the hard part.

"Now this is where the tattoo starts to get dangerous. The reason it hurts to use the Eldritch Lighting Blade is because of two key things. The first is the fact that at your current level, you can't use that level of spell or invocation, so you're forcing your power to do something its not yet ready for, so it leads to a strain on your body. The next part is the worst of the two, because the tattoo is trying to merge the super natural magic of your Warlock class with the arcane power of your Sorcerer class and is damaging your body because of these two conflicting powers are fighting each other." Susan finished explaining.

As expected, Susan saw expression of fear on Will's change to one of pure horror. Will started to tremble and finally asked, "W-What do you mean by damaging my body? I-Is it…dangers?"

Susan gave her daughter reassuring smile and gently stroke Will hair as she explained a bit more of how the tattoo worked. "If used too often and not properly treated, it could cripple or kill the user. But you only used that version of the tattoo twice and Sade treated the damage long before it got serious, so nothing bad will happen to you." Susan assured her daughter, who looked a lot calmer now and would make the next part of the conversation a bit easier.

"Now the thing we need to worry about next is, do you want to be able to use the safe version of Eldritch Lighting Blade or would you rather just forget it ever existed? You'll need to train a bit more, but you can do it with out fear of damaging effects. It's up to you." Susan said as she finished up her lesson on the tattoo on Will arm. The elvin woman waited for her daughter's response and hoped her little girl did not choose to learn the Eldritch Lighting Blade for the wrong reasons.

As Will thought it over, she tried to think of the pros and cons. If she learned to use the Eldritch Lighting Blade, she could become much stronger…but was that a good thing? Will knew her father's main love was power and wasn't wanting to become stronger almost the same?

"I…I don't know which to do mom. I want to learn it, but at the same time…I'm scared of it. Dad always wanted to be stronger and that was why I first tried to learn the Eldritch Lighting Blade, so I could be stronger. But that was back when I was afraid of being alone again, that I needed to be stronger so I could survive. But now…I'm just not sure of what the right choice is." Will asked, sounding a bit lost and scared.

Susan just smiled down and kissed Will on the forehead before saying, "Think about sweetie. It will be a while before you are strong enough anyway, so take your time before deciding. This is a pretty big decision and should not be rushed. That's something your father did and it cost him everything in the end."

Though the elvin woman did not say it, she was very proud of her daughter's response. It showed Will was trying to thinking about something Tony never did, which was ask herself 'Did she need this power?' Not many asked themselves that question, especially spell casters. Many were constantly trying to get new spells to achieve goals or surpass rivals, something even Susan had done in her own youth.

There was nothing else said between the two. The important questions had been answered for the moment, now was time for time for rest and to just enjoy finally having family again.

000

Else where in the place know as the Dark Lands, in fortress made of black stone was man sitting atop a throne and listening to a report from his second in command. "My prince, the Warlock has not sent word in several days. It is most likely the case that he failed in seizing the girl and was either killed or captured. My spies are still trying to confirm which is the case." A man with short blonde hair and kneeling before the man on the throne said in almost hissing like manner.

"It is of no loss. If Tony Vandom is dead, then I'm rid of a bungling idiot. If he is capture he will be executed anyway. Meridian law was tends to do that to traitors of his level of threat. The girl was never of great importance to me anyway, just someone who may have been of minor use if her loyalty was gained. One Gifted, no matter how much potential she may have, will help me get what I want. What we need in an army and we will soon have that." The man on the throne said, before getting up and looking out a near by window.

"I tire of seeing nothing but swamps and wastelands Lord Cedric. I want the Orc and Goblinoid tribes under my command soon. Until we can get the machine running, we will need their strength and numbers to get past those mountains and onto Meridian soil. Don't disappoint me." The mysteries man commanded other one, who was now standing as well.

"Of course Prince Phobos, I will have the last of them swearing loyalty to you before six months have past. What of our other…allies, if I may ask?" Lord Cedric asked.

The man now known as Phobos did not turn to look at Cedric when he answered, "Eating right out of our hands. One is so eager to have aid in conquering the Eastern Land, while the other is so focused on dealing with her sister, she does not care of our overall goals. With their help, we will be able to take Meridian quickly and once we do, we can get rid of them as well."

With that, Cedric left to carry out his orders while Phobos continued to look out the window and plan his vengeance. 'Soon mother and little sister, we are going to have a little reunion. One you won't enjoy, but I will!'

000

There you guts go. Let me know what you thought.


	15. The Two Parties

AN: Here is the next chapter of Shunned One, sorry for the wait. With Wilhelmina Vandom off line at the moment, I have decided to go solo until her computer is fixed.

I would like thank the following people fore reviewing last chapter: fergnerd, shocklance, Torquemada Coteaz, Philip Gipson, lost prince, Starwin, yellow 14, Darev, The Crazy Talk Kid, Taeniaea, Dada Wars, BlackRoseFire, GuyverZero, Kitsune6, RyousRayne, JanessaVR.

Disclaimer: Don't own W.I.T.C.H. or D&D

000

Arc 2: Return of the Exiled Prince

Chapter 1: The Two Parties

It was two days later when Sade had cleared Will and Susan to have visitors; the first ones in, were Will's friends. They had not been told all the details, since Sade wanted to leave that up to the newly discovered mother and daughter to tell them about what had happened.

This made it a rather surprising to see Will with out with out the circlet on, but it was a welcome sight. It may have given Will a certain level protection, but they all believed the redhead did not deserve to be in forced service.

The only one among Will's friends not surprised to see the circlet gone was Caleb, but that was because he had been present for when Susan had confessed she saw Will as a daughter. Though, the young Warmage was shocked to find out the truth of the redhead's connection to the Royal Knight.

If it had not been for Susan warning the girls to stop, the still recovering redhead would have been in a dog pile of hugs from the other girls from finding out Will was really Susan's daughter. They were all very glad for the pair.

They all knew of how the elvin warrior longed to find her biological daughter, though she often did not speak of it and they knew Will looked up to the dark haired woman, even before finding out the truth. The two deserved one another and the group hoped they would finally the happiness they had both longed for.

"Bet this is going to make you mom sweat, Taranee. She messed with a flesh and blood daughter of a Royal Knight after all, so that means Theresa Cook is in trouble," Irma commented to the dark skinned Wizard, who looked a little bitter about hearing of her mother.

"She deserves what ever she has got coming to her. First she makes it impossible for me to see Nigel as much as we could, then she pretty much rewards attempted murder to Uriah. Good thing dad and Peter back me up and kept me from getting grounded from what happened at the dual and the cafeteria." Taranee replied, which quickly got the others trying to signal her to be quiet about in front of Will.

"From what happened in the cafeteria? I was the one to attack Uriah, so how come you guys got in trouble?" Will asked, while the others shot Taranee death glares, while Susan silently laughed at the group's predicament.

"I think someone better tell Will the story of how a certain group of four got suspended or I will." An amused Susan told Caleb, Taranee, Cornelia and Elyon. Susan thought it was funny story and it gave a little more proof of how much Will's friends cared, so to help drive away any doubts Will might still have.

While Elyon and Cornelia continued to glare at Taranee for opening her big mouth, Caleb told Will what had happened the next day after her spell dual with Uriah.

000

Flashback:

The whole school was talking about Will and Uriah's battle the previous day and most of it was angering Will's friends.

Most of the school had sided with Uriah; saying Will got what she deserved. Some students only said this so not want to get target for being a half-elf or Warlock supporter.

The school was roughly one-third were true haters of half-elves and Warlocks and another third just follow what others said, so to 'fit in'. The last third of school was mix of both supports and neutrals towards Will's kind.

It was at lunchtime in the cafeteria when the talk of the dual finally made the group snap. A group of kids approached the table where Caleb and the others were eating and one of them said, "Have you finally learned your lesson Russell? Half-Breeds and Warlocks are nothing but trouble!"

Caleb glared at the boy, while Elyon spoke up in Will's defense. "I would sooner trust that half-breed warlock over a member of the Dunn family. Incase you have forgotten, Uriah cheated and the only reason he won was because of a judge with impaired judgment!" Elyon stated in the royal tone of authority that normally had people begging for her forgiveness. It sadly did not work this time though.

"I'm sorry your highness, but we all must disagree. That…thing, is an abomination and must be dealt with before it becomes a threat to the kingdom. The only thing Uriah Dunn did wrong was fail to kill it when he had the chance," the boy contradicted and made Caleb stand up and grab the loud mouth by the throat.

"One more word out of you and I'll…" Caleb started to say, when Taranee grabbed his wrist.

"Caleb, let him go. There are better ways to deal with this debate then through physical means." Taranee stated in a reasonable manner, much to Caleb's surprise and annoyance. He was about to yell at the dark skinned girl, when he noticed a look her eyes, one that said, 'Trust me'.

Caleb let his soon to be victim go as Taranee asked and jerk just grinned evilly at the dark skinned girl. "And what are you going to do? Baffle us with intellect and list out reasons why we should betray our own kind to support that freak?" The boy mocked Taranee, not knowing he and his group were in for a nasty surprise.

"No, nothing as overly complex as that, besides you and your kind are too close-minded to be reasoned with." Taranee said casually and raised her hand up, pointing it right at the boy and his friends.

They were all confused by both the Wizard's words and gesture, but before anyone could say anything about it, Taranee unleashed a Burning Hands spell. She made sure to pull so it did not kill the boy or his friends, but it still hurt like heck.

Taranee then moved to sit down and eat again, when one of the boys, a bigger one then the first, grabbed Taranee and spun her around. "That hurt you little..." The large boy said as he raised his fist to punch Taranee.

The others stood up to go and save their friend, but some else managed to step in first. Just as the large boy was about to swing his fist, someone grabbed his wrist and started to crush it with incredible strength.

"Bad idea pal." A voice growled out and Taranee looked to see it was Nigel of all people.

What made Taranee a bit worried at her unofficial boyfriend's rescue, was the fact that he was only this strong and mad looking when he was using his Barbarian Rage, which meant this boy was in going to need a darn good Cleric when this was all over.

"Let me…go…you monster!" The large boy managed to squeak in pain, before using his free hand to punch Nigel, but the young barbarian caught it with his other hand like it was nothing.

"Fighting me is like is like fighting quicksand…it gets worse the more you resist!" Nigel growled out and gave the large boy a head butt, then released his hold on the large boy's arms. This was so he could proceed to pummel the living snot out of the fool who tried to hit Taranee.

The rest of the group who was with the large boy, were not going to stand for this though and neither were some of the other students in the cafeteria. Those who could cast spells, were getting ready to barrage Nigel, but the rest of his and Taranee's friend let loose their own volley of attacks first.

Elyon and Taranee fired off Scorching Rays, while Cornelia did the same with her Produce Flame spell. Caleb jumped in to help Nigel with the other attackers, who were resorting to physical means to take the raging warrior down.

Matt's helped as well, but in a subtle way. While avoiding getting shot at by stray spells, Matt got close to several senior students who could cast the rare third level spells like Fireball and Lighting Bolt.

The reason why third level spell were rare in the school, was because such highly skilled students were quickly offered enrollment into mage guilds and such, so Matt knew getting this small group on his and his friends' side was a critical in handling the quickly growing number of opponents.

Once Matt was in range, he started playing his lute, so to cast his Charm spell, to make himself a very close 'friend' to these students. Once he was sure his spell had worked he asked, "Mind helping me and my friends out a bit? We are getting kind of outnumbered."

It probably helped that most of these student were girls and thus, had to also had to deal with Matt's natural charm when he spoke. This combined with he spell got him six very powerful casters, who were eager to oblige his request.

That was when the fight got ugly. With Fireballs and other wide area of effect spells being thrown around the room; along with Matt sneaking around and brainwashing more students, the cafeteria was getting demolished.

The teachers tried to stop the small-scale war, but were too scared of getting caught in the crossfire to really do anything, even if the spells were being pulled. This meant they were forced to watch until all the students finally ran out of steam and could be dealt with safely.

When the fighting finally stopped after a good half hour of non-stop spells and brawls, the whole area looked like a fire and hurricane had hit it. The walls and floors were scorched; tables and chairs smashed or broken and many students were feeling very sore. Somewhere even out cold! Thought it was hard to say if this because of getting hit too hard or from a Sleep spell, no one really knew.

As the teachers rounded up the students, Knickerbocker screeched out in a furry, "WHO STARTED THIS?!"

000

Will eyes widened more and more with each passing second as she heard the retelling of the 'Great Cafeteria War' as it had been called. She could not believe the entire cafeteria got trashed because of her and Uriah's dual.

"…so once Knickerbocker found out the details of the fight, we all got kicked out of a month. Fortunately, we won the fight and Nigel managed to sneak out and that know one knew who he was. Not surprising, since that was the first time he ever came to Sheffield, so know one had ever scene his face before." Caleb said as he finished wrapping the story.

"Wish Hay Lin and I had been there! It must have been a blast, plus we would have gotten to give those jerks a pummeling for what they said about Will!" Irma stated, while Hay Lin nodded her head in agreement.

"You guys shouldn't have done that though. I don't want you guys getting punished just to defend me from…" Will started to say, but her mother cut her off.

"As I see it sweet heart, it's no different then how you defended Caleb from Uriah. They just had a mini war instead a formal dual. Probably faster that way though, way too many to deal with in that way, better to just wipe out the whole student body in one go!" Susan said to her daughter, in hopes of keeping her from blaming herself for her friends' actions. She also threw a bit teasing in at the end to help lighten the mood as well.

"We did not wipe out the student body! We just…made them have a need to get a checkup from a Cleric." Elyon stated in their defense, which everyone laughed at.

After everyone settled down from their laughing fit, they heard a knock at the door. Susan gave who ever it was permission to enter and fount out it was Julian, Abele and Sade.

"Hope we are not interrupting anything, but we need to speak with Susan and Will alone for a moment." Sade told the group. Will's friends could tell it was nothing serious, but was something they wanted to get out of the way as soon as possible, so the group left.

As the door closed, Sade said, "First of all, I would like to inform you both, mainly Will, is that your both well enough to leave tomorrow. You're body and mystic energy should have recovered enough to no longer need me checking in on you, as long as you DON'T use magic for a few more days."

Will looked a little sad at this news, but knew why if was unsafe to use her powers for a while. Her mother had explained that Will's mystic energy was unstable from using the Eldritch Lighting Blade with both the wrong tattoo and before she was ready to handle the attack.

"And now on to the reason why you are all here." Susan said to the group, knowing it does not take a group of three to give a medical report. What ever it was, Susan had feeling it was of at least a mild concern.

"Well, since you daughter's birthday is only a month away, we want to know your plans. Are you keeping it small or are we going to rub you're daughter's newly found status in her haters' faces?" Abele asked, as she made the three adults intentions clear, but confusing Will to what they meant.

Susan knew what they were asking though and was unsure of which was the best choice. If she kept it small, Will would be around only those who she knew and was comfortable with. If Susan made it a big celebration, then many nobles would be invited to the occasion. This would be small bit of revenge on those who made Will's life hard.

To be invited by a Royal Knight to any sort of gathering was a great honor, so many would frown on those who turned it down or not showed up, even if the gathering was to celebrate a half-elf Warlock's birthday. That fact that said half-elf was Susan's daughter and the one who dealt the killing blow to Tony Vandom, would only those who did not appear look even worse.

After all, it made Will a hero for taking down one Meridian's most hated criminals, so to attend the celebration was also a chance to show respect and thank Will for her deed.

The down sides to all of this though were what worried Susan though. The first of which was the fact Will was completely unprepared for such an occasion. The young redhead had many talents and skills, but having the needed knowledge if manners, etiquette and other such things were not among them.

By commoner standards, Will had perfect manners and could conduct herself perfectly. But among the higher crust, Will might as well paint a bull's eye on her head. They would eat the poor girl alive if given the chance. That was something Susan did not want to happen.

"I don't think it's a good idea to put Will in that position yet. With only a month to teach all she needs to know, the other nobles would take advantage of even the slightest of flaws and make the evening a living nightmare for Will." Susan told the three other adults, while just making her daughter more and more confused and annoyed.

"Can we talk like I am in the room please?!" Will demanded in an annoyed tone, which drew everyone's attention. They were surprised by the firmness of her tone, since she tended to be a bit quite at times.

"It seems have an official mother in her life has given our young friend some inner fire." Abele commented in a casual tone, making Will blush and the others present chuckle at her expense.

"Sorry about that sweetie." Susan told her daughter and gave the redhead a gentle hug to apologize to and comfort the girl.

While Susan was doing this, Sade said, "Well, its understandable you don't want to put Will in that kind of situation yet Susan. Though, shouldn't we let the person who is most effected by this topic decide?"

The four adults looked at Will who was still trying to figure out what was going on. All she could figure out it was something to do with her birthday and how they were going to celebrate it.

Seeing Will's confusion, Susan simplified the two choices as best she could. "It's pretty much a choice between having a huge and fancy party, where I show you off to the other nobles or we have a small private party for just family and friends." Susan explained, hoping the remnants of the girl's shy and timid nature would make Will choose the small party idea.

Will seemed to think about it for a moment, clearly trying to decide which was better. Do the big formal thing where she had no idea what to do, but at the same time get to show the nobles who hated her that she was not dirt or go with the small party idea and just have a fun time with her friends.

"I…don't know." Will finally said, clearly torn between the two choices. She wanted things to be simple, but at the same time, she wanted let the whole kingdom know who she was. The redhead was not naïve enough to believe having such an important woman as her mother would really change what people thought, but Will did hope she might find other nice people among the nobles.

'Matt and Caleb are nobles after all, so shouldn't there be other like them as well? The bigger party might let me meet them, but I don't want to embarrass mom if I mess up,' Will thought in her mind, while the others present tried to think of what to do to help the redhead make a decision.

The main reason for Sade, Julian and Abele wanted to push for a grand celebration, was for three simple reasons. The first of which was to show the majority of the half-elf and warlock haters who they had been attacking all this time and that she was now able to fight back on equal terms.

Many had openly showed they despised Will, but many would be practically kissing Will's feet when they heard whom her mother was. Many nobles did not want to be on a mother's bad side, when she had a Royal Knight's level of authority.

The second reason was to get back at two specific nobles, The Dunn Family and Lord McDohl. They were some of the few who would not grovel at Will and Susan's feet, but they would be highly annoyed to see many of their former supporters being chummy with the two Vandoms, even if it was only to avoid the older of the pair's wrath.

The third and most important reason was because Will was a hero and deserved to be recognized for it. She fought her own father, a man far more powerful then herself, yet managed to kill him. With his own technique no less!

Tony Vandom was one of one of Meridian's most feared and wanted criminals and Will was the one to finally bring him down. Many with greater power then the redhead had tried to do the same and failed, so Will had the right be given the credit she deserved and allow the kingdom to know a major threat had be eliminated.

Susan knew these reasons as well, but did not want to put Will in an uncomfortable situation. It clearly was going to need to be Will's decision in the end, since neither choice was better then the other.

As everyone tried to way the choices between getting a few more nobles on Will's side or just let her enjoy her first birthday with a family, Abele spoke up. "Perhaps we should use you're people method of deal with this Susan." Abele suggested, hoping to reach a happy medium.

Will looked confused at this, since she was unaware of the costumes of her mother's people, but the others knew what Abele was implying.

"I don't know Abele. Will would still get stuck in a formal celebration to start off with, thought the private party between…family would probably make Will feel better the next day." Susan replied before looking at Will and explained further, since Susan knew the redhead would ask what was going on soon enough.

"In an elvin community, those who are important with in that community have two celebrations on their birthday. The first one is the formal one, which is for mingling for other of equal or higher status. Basically it's the party that many noble families have to invite both close friends and those who they causally, so maintain old friendships and hopefully forge new ones." Susan told Will, then move onto the second half of the explanation.

"The seconded part is held the day after is the considered the family celebration. It's the casual party where the birthday girl can just enjoy herself." Susan said as she wrapped up her explanation. Will still seemed a little unsure, but the idea of not having to choose one idea over the other was tempting.

After a moment Will said, "I guess it would be alright…would the other girls be at the first party at least? So I'm not completely alone."

"Of course they will be there sweetie. It's only right to have your friends there to celebrate with you. Besides, you might want the extra people looking out for you during the party. Some nobles…like the Dunn family, might try to make the night living nightmare, so a few friends would a be welcome thing for both of us." Susan answered her daughter, who looked glad to hear that.

"Then leave the preparations to us. Should I have few books brought to you later? So you can help Will start her lessons for the party." Sade asked, knowing no time better the present to start preparing Will to handle a social gathering of this type.

"That's a good idea. Also…what do think of pink with lots of frills?" Susan asked as a hug grin came onto her face and other three adults quickly caught on.

"That would be perfect for her!" Sade exclaimed so to add fuel to the fire, while Will was starting to look scared.

"What are you talking about?" Will asked in hope they were not talking about what she thought they were.

"Your dress for the party." Abele answered for the group, which instantly made Will go pale. This only lasted a short time though, because Will quickly recovered and screamed out, "Not a chance in all Nine Layers of…"

"Wilhelmina Vandom, watch your language!" Susan scolded lightly, knowing Will was going to get this aggravated so she let the curse in the making slide.

"No dress! Especially the pink frilly kind!" Was the redhead's comeback to her mother's scolding, which made everyone chuckle lightly. The girl had her priorities, even though most would have been worried about the scolding they just received.

"But then I don't get have any fun! One of the best parts of a mother is to dress up their child on special occasions!" Susan teased; making Will get even more annoyed.

"Not happening!" Will stated, while Sade, Julian and Abele left the room. As entertaining as the sight was, they had other things to do. They knew Susan was going to win in the end anyway. No one ever out argued Susan Vandom, though they knew the redhead would not go down with out a fight.

"One hundred gold pieces say Will only succeeds in avoiding the frills." Julian says as the exit the room and closed the door behind them.

"Raise you fifty and say Will manages to avoid wearing pink along with the frills." Sade counters, while Abele roles her eyes at the betting contest. She would have thrown a wager in, but since it was Julian's money to begin with it did not really matter if won any way. Besides, Sade took her guess.

'There is no way Susan would ever succeed in getting Will into something pink and frilly and she would never be that cruel anyway. She's just teasing Will after all.' An amused Abele thought as the Queen and Royal Knight finished agreeing on their wager.

000

Mean while, Will's friends had over heard the plans for Will birthday and had snuck off before they were caught. They were all trying to figure out two things. The first of which was what to get her for her birthday. The second was if there was anything they could do to help her prepare for the party or keep those who would ruin the night away from Will.

"Well, not much we can do for making the night bearable except stick with her so any trouble makers won't be able to pester her." Cornelia said, which got a reluctant agreement from those who were not used to the way nobles worked. (Irma and Hay Lin)

"Guess that just leaves what gifts we get her then. What do we get Will anyway? She is not exactly a normal young noble after all…no offensive to those present." Irma said, but quickly added the last part incase the majority of the group got offended.

"Don't worry, we know what you meant Irma." Caleb replied casually and then got the group back to brainstorming ideas for birthday presents. Will never really showed much interest in anything besides training, so there was not much to work with in terms of hobbies or other such things.

Most things girls Will's age normally wanted did not seems to fit too well with the redhead either. She did not have heavy interest in clothing, make-up or jewelry so those were mostly out. True, Will never had much reason to want those things up until now, so perhaps simple jewelry might be alright.

'I have month so that might be enough time if I can convince mom to lay off on the grounding for that long.' Caleb pondered while Matt asked, "Irma, what stuff do you normally ask for? Since Will is a tomboy, maybe we should try that approach."

Matt's suggestion made sense, but even that did not help much in the ideas for gifts. With out knowing exact interests to fall back on, it made think of possible presents hard to do. Caleb of course had his secret idea, but so far, he was the only one who had a plan on what he wanted to get Will.

As they continued to try and figure out this issue about Will's birthday, Abele and Julian entered and said, "Caleb, time to head home." Caleb nodded his head and left with his parents, while other continued to brainstorm ideas.

As Caleb and his parents left the palace, he asked, "Mom, could as you a favor?"

000

Over the course of the month, it had been a bust time for Will. Long gone were the days where life simply revolved around training and helping Susan around the castle. Now Will had lessons in place of her old schedule, which were a bit difficult for the redhead at first.

Learning all the little details about how to act among the nobility and what to do at special occasions with very complex, but Will had her mother helping her every step of the way.

There was also another knew addition to Will lessons, though of a more enjoyable kind. Learning more about her to elvin heritage. This was mainly about the history of the elves, how to read and speak the elvin language and also about their customs.

Will had also learned more about the main god of worship for the elves, which was their creator, Corellon Larethian. This was the god that Susan of course, worshiped over all others. Will, not have any set religion in past, also opted to worship him as well, which Susan happy to hear. She but also encouraged her daughter keep and open mind, since Will might choose a different god when she was older and perhaps saw a different deity represented her better the creator of the elvin people.

Right now though, Will was praying to her newly gained deity, as she said in elvin language, "Corellon, may your grace grant me the ability to avoid making a fool out of myself tonight."

Will was making this payer in front of a full-length mirror, in her new room. She rarely slept in it though, often sneaking back into the tiny room/study that she used sleep in during her time of being in her mother's employment.

Right now, she wished she were able to go back in time and tell herself to just go with only the small private party because right now, the nobles were arriving while she stared at herself in the mirror.

She was wearing a red medieval style dress with gold trimming, which took surprisingly little effort to get her into after her mother finally convinced Will to wear something special for the occasion.

"You don't need a god to help you sweetie. Your more then ready for this." Will heard her mother's voice say and the redheaded half-elf spun around to see her mother standing in the doorway.

Susan was dressed in a blue and silver version of her daughter's dress and was smiling affectionately at her daughter. "If you say so mom." Will replied in a doubtful tone as she walked over to her mother, who pulled the Will into a gentle hug.

"I know so. Just stick close to your friends or myself and I'm sure we won't have any trouble tonight." Susan assured her daughter and led her towards castle ballroom.

When they arrived at the destination, soft music was being played in the background by a group of musicians and the guests were talking amongst themselves, waiting for the guest of honor to arrive.

As they entered the doorway, man next to it announced their arrival. "Presenting, Lady Susan Vandom and her daughter, Lady Wilhelmina Vandom." The man called out, making Will silent growl at the use of her full name. The redhead was just not able to get used to being call Wilhelmina, after being called Will for almost thirteen years.

As the reached the bottom of the stairway that led to the ballroom floor, Will and Susan were greeted by her closest friends, each dressed for the occasion, or as best they could given that some were of a different status then others.

Sade and Elyon were dressed in regal looking gowns and Cornelia was wearing an emerald colored medieval dress.

Caleb and Matt wore a military style black dress uniform, since noble families usually had connections to the military. The only way to tell if a noble was wearing for just formal occasion or actually was actively apart of the military, was if the noble had a medal or two on the right side the shirt. (Matt had none while Caleb had one)

Yan Lin and Hay Lin wore elaborate robes that were in style of the old woman's homeland to the Far East, past the wasteland on the other side of the great mountains.

Taranee wore a bright orange, red and gold formal wizard robe, while Irma wore a blue dress. The country girl's family was simple one after all, so Irma did not have anything super fancy to wear, not Irma really cared. She liked standing out among the nobles as way to 'rub the salt into the wound' so to speak. Most never liked commoner being present after all.

A bit further off from the group was standing around her; Will could see most of her friends' families. The Hales, Russells, Olsens were present, but one reason or another the Cooks, Lairs and Lins were not.

The Lairs and Lins could not make it, but Cooks or be precise Theresa, refused to come. Taranee's father and brother wanted to see if they could talk some sense into the Palladian so they stayed behind as well.

"Looks like I win the bet." Sade commented in an absented minded manner. Everyone looked at the Queen in confusion as she smiled a explained, "Julian bet Will would only avoid the frill. I bet she would avoid both the frill and the pink color."

This made Will shudder at the memory of that image, though she later realized her mother had been joking about the pink frilly dress. The others laughed at this and then quickly took Will to fully introduce her to the other's families.

000

On the far side of the room, Uriah glared hatefully at the ones who were trying to make his life living nightmare. His family had been invited and they knew the exact reason why. No one could touch him for what happened in the Spell Dual, so they going for an indirect revenge, by making Dunn family come to this ridicules party.

'It should be dead right now, not having the weak willed nobles kissing up to the freak so to avoid the mother's wrath,' Uriah thought bitterly, but drew comfort from one little thing. He was not the only one who did not want to be here and would have help making this the worse night of Will's life.

000

The night was an interesting one for Will to say the least. Meeting the Hales awkward to say the least. Will could tell Elizabeth Hale was trying to be kind courteous, but Will knew the woman was still trying to deicide how she felt about Warlocks.

Will knew of the Druid's old group, who opposed Warlock existence, but also knew the woman no longer followed that path. Elizabeth was just trying to shed an old habit, but was not having much luck since she had been apart of that Druid group up until she met her husband.

Matt's family made any usual feeling from meeting Cornelia mom subside though, since they were much like the Russells when it came to treating half-elves. Will especially liked Matt's grandfather, Ted Olsen, who was kind old man.

Ted was also a bit of an veterinarian, though not a professional one because of his noble status giving him other duties to perform. As he got older and his son could take over though, Ted took up a small practice as a sort of hobby, mainly focusing on rare, magical or exotic creatures.

The lands the Olsen family watched over had a fair share of such creatures so Ted's services most valuable. Will enjoyed talking about all the different creature he had treated and would have done so all night, if Matt or Caleb had not dragged her out onto the dance floor.

It started with Caleb asking Will for the first dance, then once the next song began, Matt stepped in. This pattern continued for most of the night, until a few other boys started cutting in as well.

While Will danced with another unknown boy, she tried to figure out why Caleb and Matt seemed to be trying be Will's next dance, the two boys with giving each other fake grins and were mumbling to each other.

"Why don't you go take break Matt? I can keep an eye on Will by myself." Caleb said quietly, but the Matt gave his friend a glance before responding, "Wouldn't it be better if you rested? You might give Cornelia the wrong idea."

Caleb rolled his eyes at this comment and said, "Since when was I courting Cornelia? Besides, I'll looking after a friend, not trying to have relationship with her." This was not entirely true, but it was what Caleb was telling himself. What he really wanted to do was beat Matt to the next dance.

Both boys were setting the foundation that would be one of the greatest rivalries the kingdom would ever know, but it was also giving Uriah his chance to act. With his two newest partners in crime, Courtney and Bess Grumper. Kurt and Clubber were unable to attend the celebration, but that was good thing, since this little job required subtlety, something his normal partners lacked.

When Will finally broke away from her current dance partner so to take a break and get a drink, Uriah and the Grumper Sisters made their move. Will friends were to far away to save the redhead, so she was completely as the trio's mercy.

Since Will knew Uriah already, he had to stay back and the Grumpers work their magic, both figuratively and literally. The two mischief-makers made their way towards Will and Courtney said while she and Bess gave Will a small curtsy, "Good evening Lady Wilhelmina."

Will was bit confused when heard her full first name used, but managed to avoid making look like she was too unfamiliar with for it. The Grumper Sisters were practiced observers though and filed that information away to use at a later date.

"H-hello…" Will replied to the Grumpers was clearly showing she was novice at talking in such a formal setting because of her stalled sentence. This was another bit of information the two sisters would try to use later if they got a chance.

"I'm Courtney and this my sister Bess. We are of the Grumper Family and we thought it was best we introduce our selves. After all, you are the guest of honor and if what we hear is correct, a future Royal Knight." Courtney said as she started laying the trap for Will, who did not expect a thing.

The plan was more Uriah's style near the end, but the first part was defiantly to the Grumper Sisters' liking, which was to play with their targets head. They would make the redhead think they were her friends and leave wide open to get humiliated.

'The part where we humiliate the freak is a bit more childish then our usual methods, but Uriah right. The girl is too stupid to waste real energy on. So we will got with Uriah's plan on how we end this.' Courtney concluded in her mind, while Will blushed a bit at the words Courtney had said.

"I…I doubt that. Royal Knights are chosen very carefully, I don't think…" Will started to say shyly, but Bess cut her off.

"How could you not be chosen eventually? You are the one who killed Tony Vandom, one of the most hated men in all the kingdom. The fact it was you who did it makes the feat all the more important. His own daughter made sure he paid for his crimes." Bess said as she helped her sister further butter Will up, while Uriah got into position.

000

On the opposite side of the room, Will's friends and family were trying to see where Will had gone. They had lost track of her after the last dance ended, but then Irma saw Will standing over by the food table.

"There she is and she is with…oh no! The Grumpers! And Uriah seems to sneaking towards them!" Irma hissed out, whole everyone else got very worried. They knew those three were going to pull something that would be childish and very embarrassing for Will.

Will's friends then tried to as discreetly as possible to make their way over to Will's location, but they would get their in time to help the young half-elf.

000

As Courtney and Bess continued their charade and kept Will distracted, Uriah stood behind the three some on the other side of the table. He hand a want in his hand that had the telekinesis spell infused into it.

The plan Uriah had come up with was crude, but it would ruin Will's night unfortunately. The Grumper sisters would distract Will and make her feel like they were being friendly, thus lowering will guard for when the they would trip her and given Uriah time to act.

When Will was on the ground, Uriah would make it looking Will pulled the table cloth on the table behind down as she fell and cover the poor girl in food and punch. A few quickly and sharp comments at the humiliated girl's expense would make the majority of the people present laugh at her and drive the redhead to tears.

Uriah signaled he was ready and the Grumpers started the next and final step of the plan. Bess discretely cast a spell called Mage Hand to grab the hem of Will's dress, while Courtney suddenly pushed Will backwards.

Will feet stepped on the hem that was pulled underneath them and Will fell over, while Uriah went about with his end of the plan. The food trays, punch bowl and the cloth fell onto Will, causing such commotion that it attracted the whole room's attention.

As Will slowly climbed out form underneath the tablecloth that draped over as it fell, Bess spoke loudly, "My my, Lady Wilhelmina! Such a large appetite you have!"

"You do know that was for everyone own right?" Courtney added, and Will heard a large number of snickering fill the room. Will's eyes swelled up with tears as she realized she had been set up and tried to get up and runaway, but Courtney stuck her foot out and trip Will when she was finally able to stand.

"Such a klutz as well!" Bess called out, adding fuel to the fire and making the braver nobles laugh at Will's expense. Uriah was one of the said nobles and Will easily made his voice among the laughter making Will feeling even worse.

"Will!" The redhead heard her mother call out as the half got back to her feet and ran out of the ballroom, pieces of food falling off her as she did.

Susan looked torn between killing the three fools who dared to target her baby girl at her own birthday celebration or going after Will, but Sade helped guide her friend to a decision. Sade pointed out Will's friends had already closed in on the trio of troublemakers.

Caleb had jumped onto the table and then tried dive at Uriah, who was smart enough to run before Caleb got his hands on him. Matt was trying to cut the orange haired boy off, since he could not lay a hand on the Grumpers.

Cornelia, Taranee and Elyon were too well raised to resort to physically harm the two sisters, but Irma had no such difficulty. The only thing stopping her was the fact Hay Lin holding the Arcane Hunter back, but she looked clearly as mad as everyone else.

The first three girls surrounded the Grumpers, so they could not run and were clearly scared of the group, so they did not dare try to escape the soon to come retribution, what ever that was.

"I think her friends have those three dealt with. You go check on Will, while I deal with the rest." Sade told Susan, making it clear she would insure that those dared to spoil this night for Will, paid dearly.

Susan nodded her head in acceptance and ran after daughter, following the pieces of food and drops of punch that the poor girl had left behind. The one good thing horrible prank did was at least leave Susan a good trail to follow.

000

Susan followed the trail to the one place she should know Will would run to. Her old room from her time of forced service. It was the place Will felt most comfortable and was place that offered sanctuary during a simpler time of her life, even had not been such a long time ago since those days.

Susan went up the door and found Will in the tiny study the young girl once slept in. Susan found Will curled up in the corner of the room where her old bed used to be and was sobbing loudly.

By the time Will knew her mother was in the room, the elvin woman kneeling in front of Will and stroke the redhead's hair lightly.

Will tried to crawl away, not wanting her mother to see her like this, but Susan was too quick. The dark haired woman pulled Will close and rocked her gently back and fourth. "M-M-Mom…you can't touch me. I'm covered in…" Will started to protest, but Susan cut her daughter off.

"I don't care." Was all the older woman said and continued to comfort her child.

After about ten minutes, Susan looked down at her daughter and asked, "Why don't we get you changed into something clean and we go to bed? You can sleep with me tonight."

Will protested that the party was still going on down in the ballroom, but Susan assured Will that Sade would take care of things. The most important thing to the elvin woman was looking after Will, nothing else.

Once Susan helped Will change into a clean nightgown and had lightly washed the food and punch in Will's hair, the two climb into Susan bed. Susan hummed an elvin lullaby to her daughter until Will in a peaceful slumber, before entering her four-hour trance.

Susan was glad they were leaving for the lakeside estate tomorrow. The private party was supposed be time of unwinding for the one who's birthday it was. But for Will, it was chance to get away from the cruelty and stupidity of certain people.

'I'm glad I arranged for several days away from the city, Will needs time to feel better.' Susan thought. as she entered her trance, glad she had surprise for Will for when the reached their destination.

000

The next morning, Susan had woken Will up early, so to leave before the nobles who stayed the night (though Sade expelled many of the more cruel ones from the castle the night before) and was getting Susan friend and Familiar, Serenity, ready to fly.

It would take three days by horse to reach the lakeside escape Susan had, but by flight, they would reach it by earlier afternoon.

Will was surprised at how different her mother treated riding a dragon then her father did. The saddle was bigger and though a bit of a squeeze, could still hold the two of them. Susan also had Will in front of her, instead of hanging on from behind, like Tony did.

Susan had done everything to insure Will was safe and secure, while Tony would have left Will to fend for herself.

"Are you ready Mistress Will?" The golden dragon asked, having a good idea Back Wing and Tony had not made Will's past flight very comfortable, something Serenity planed on correcting today.

"Mistress? I thought Mom would your mistress, since you're her familiar." Will asked, feeling a bit uncomfortable to be riding a dragon again, even if steps to insure her safety had been done.

"I'm at your mother's service, that is true. But you are her child, and so to a lesser extent, you have my service as well." Serenity explained. Normally familiars served only one master or mistress, but Dragons were sentient creatures with out becoming familiars. They knew who a person cared about and would protect those people as well.

Will was unsure what to think of that, since Black Wing certainly never thought like that. Will did draw some comfort from the gold dragon's words, but was still a little scared because of past experiences.

Eventually, Will said she was ready and they took to the air. Will had curled up against her mother upon take off, but that was to be expected. Susan knew that once Will got used to the idea that not all dragons were like Black Wing, the redhead would feel much more comfortable riding Serenity.

After Susan gave Will an hour to get used to being in the air, she put a plan into action that might make Will feel more comfortable with flying.

"Would you like to try taking the reins Will?" Susan asked, making stridden a bit.

Since Will could not turn around while in the saddle, she just looked straight up as said in a bit of a scared tone, "But I don't know the way." Susan could tell Will was just sacred and was looking for an excuse to not try to fly, but the elvin woman was not going to be deterred so easily.

"Don't worry, either Serenity or myself will let you know of we are going far off coarse. So go ahead Will, give it a try." Susan assured her daughter and gently placed the reins in Will's hands. Susan did not need them really, since she and Serenity had the familiar link, but Susan had been planning to do this for a few days.

Serenity was all for the idea as well, so it they added reins to the harness so to give Will something to use.

After Susan gave Will a quick run through on how maneuver a flying creature, Susan wrapped her arms around Will's waste and let the redhead have control. It took a while for the two to encourage Will to have some fun with her being in control, which ended by Serenity going into a slow dive.

"Up! Up!" Will squeaked out but Serenity did not pull up. Serenity wanted to get Will to use the reins, not her voice to get what she wanted.

"Will, remember you have to pull up in the reins." Susan wisped into Will's ear and the girl then suddenly pulled hard on the reins. It was bit rougher the gold dragon would have liked, but she responded and went higher up into the air.

"Now that was not so hard, now was it?" Susan asked with kind smile on her face, while Will was trying calm down a bit.

"You…planned that…didn't you?" Will said with a hint of accusation in her voice, which got a mall chuckle from both mother and dragon.

"Had to get you flying some how Will. Now go on and have some fun. We still have ways to go and it's a boring flight if we just go straight!" Susan told the young girl, who seemed to be more at ease with flying now, though did seem a bit grouchy with the two. They had been manipulating her after all.

Will at least got a bit more adventuress now though, and did a few slow dives every so often. Will was still bit too scared to do things like loops and barrel rolls, but at least she was not as scared as before.

When they finally arrived at their destination, Will saw they come to lakeside cabin. It was very large two story one and was surrounded by a forest; it was a perfect place to get away to someplace quiet for a while.

"Lets get ins side Will and get everything put away. After we rest for a bit, we can go for a swim and give our legs go stretch after being in the air all day." Susan suggested she handed Will her bag and they headed for the cabin.

The young half-elf did not see the small smile on her mother face as they headed for the cabin door. As the door swung open, Will was greeted by a loud, "SURPRISE!"

In the cabin were all of Will's friends and their families (with the exception of Theresa and Hay Lin's parents) and the room was decorated in the style of simple birthday party. Streamers and balloons were all over the place and a large Happy Birthday Will banner hung on the wall.

As Will looked back between the people in the cabin and her mother as if trying to ask a question, Susan said, "In elvin society, close friends are family." Susan knew Will was shocked to see people that were not family by blood here, since the elvin woman knew Will though by family party, it meant only direct family. She did not know it was for all those who were very close to the person.

As Susan led Will into the cabin, everyone started singing happy birthday. As Will was sat down in front of a coffee table, a large chocolate cake with thirteen candles in was brought out.

'This is the best day of my life.' Will thought as blew out the candles, making a wish that she to be ready for next year. She would not let the nobles get the better of her; she would show them they would not ruin her life anymore. Not when she had people like these in her life.

000

After the song and cake were done, they moved onto presents. Will had never gotten presents before, so it was strange, but enjoyable experiences for her. The first present was from Cornelia's family, which were books of some kind.

"I thought that since my plans for a Warlock academy have yet to gain any ground, I thought you might be able to make use of those." Cornelia's father explained and made Will take a closer look at the books. They were about Warlock powers!

"I'm sure the ones your mother can provide from her own library are far better in quality, those might have information not covered in the others." Lord Harold Hale continued to explain, which led Will to becoming confused and look to her mother for further explanation.

"Your father had written many of his own books, Will. Back when he was good and wanted to protect Meridian, he wrote them for our own children that we planned on having and the ones they had. I guess you could say, the man who was your TRUE father, wanted you to benefit from his experiences." Susan told Will, who was now wishing she had met that man and not the one who betrayed both her and her mother.

To change the darkening mood that was coming, Sade and Elyon offered their gift. It a jewelry box, though they knew at the moment, Will did not have any of that to put in it. They knew that would change sooner or later though, so it made good gift for the young half-elf.

Taranee, Lionel and Peter's gift was the improvement of her mithral chain shirt. They had 'barrowed' it, while Will was recovering form her battle with her father and had enchanted to be a bit stronger then before.

It now could better resist being penetrated by weapons, though Will knew it was still better to dodge or block attacks then allow her armor to take the hit for her.

Hay Lin and Yan Lin's was something Yan Lin had been working for years on, a spell from Yan Lin's homeland to the east. It was called Lighting Sword or that was what Yan Lin renamed it when she modified it to be able to be used the Wizards and Sorcerers of Meridian.

Back in the east, it was called Lighting Blade, but since Susan's personal spell had that name already and Yan had to alter the original spell, so it made sense to rename it.

"You'll probably use your real sword more then this probably, but always good have a back Will. All you do is cast the spell and a bolt of lighting will appear in your hand, which you can wield like a sword." Yan Lin explained, while Will handled the scroll that contained the spell with great care.

Though no one mentioned it, this was very special gift. Yan Lin was very choosy on who got any of her remade spells. Susan was one of these few, but she could have never taught it to Will, out of respect for the old women's wishes.

The gift Irma and her family gave Will was simple one, a bow and a hunting knife. Though Will had a bow already, Tom himself crafted this one for Will, with Irma's help. Anna had made the dagger and the family knew a good set of hunting weapons would be useful for Will.

The next gift was from Matt. He knew most members of elvin race valued music and the arts, so he made an orcarina for her. Matt knew Will had not shown any interest in music, but he though she might like it nonetheless for at least an ornamental object.

The next gift was form Caleb, which was going to be a surprising one for Will. He handed her a small box and Will unwrapped it to find a necklace inside. It was a small pink stone in mithral frame and was held on chain made of the same metal. The crystal had a faint glow about it and seemed to be warm to the touch as well.

"Caleb…it's beautiful, thank you." Will said as looked at the necklace. Caleb smiled and explained of few special features the necklace had.

"It's a magic necklace actually, Will. Whenever you want it to, it will create a strong source of light and once a day, can cast Cure Serious Wounds spell. It also can fire a Bolt of Glory spell once a day. Its very effective against evil creatures, so the next time Uriah bothers you, use that on him." Caleb told Will, while most of those present were shocked at the extravagant gift Caleb had given her.

Of course, Susan, Julian and Abele were not surprised. Susan knew Caleb was getting ready to try and compete for Will's heart, even though he had yet to realize this. Caleb's parents were not surprised, because they had helped Caleb make the necklace, a little fact Abele was going to make sure Will knew.

"I'm not sure who is more tired from its creation, me for putting the magic into it or you for making it, Caleb. You seemed to have been trying to make sure everything was perfect. Can't argue with the results though, it almost looks exactly like the original Heart of Candracar." Abele said casually, while everyone stared at Caleb in shock, while Caleb's face turned a deep crimson.

Matt and Cornelia were starting to feel a bit jealous. Matt because Caleb was showing him up in front of Will. Cornelia on the other hand felt it for a different reason; she had been trying to get Caleb's attention for years, but only got subtle rejection from the boy. But Will on the other hand, got present that Caleb clearly put his heart into.

Though Cornelia jealousy was not strong yet, it had planted a seed that would sprout into a rivalry equal to the one that Matt and Caleb were beginning to have.

The three parents could see this, but knew they could do nothing about it. Love often started such events and the best way to deal with was to just let the rival go at it and hope they were all still friends in the end.

"Well Caleb, looks like you topped my gift. I was hoping to give my daughter the biggest present, but I'll settle for second best." Susan teased and handed Will a long box, while Caleb got a deeper blush (if that was possible)

Will opened it to find…her sword, but it was different now from what could tell. There was elvin writing engraved on both sides of the blade, but in a form Will had yet to learn and it felt more powerful somehow when she held it in her hand.

"I had it enchanted like Taranee's family did for your armor, Will. It's much sharper now and the words engraved on the blade are in an ancient dialect that even most elves don't know anymore. I can't tell you what it says though; you have to find out on your own. A…family tradition you could say." Susan told her daughter, who was feeling over whelmed by all the wonderful things she had been given.

"Looks like your ready for the Youth Games with all the improved gear and new abilities to learn, huh Will?" Irma commented, which drew Will confusion and made Susan flinch a bit.

"Youth Games?" Will asked, which made everyone one stare at Susan. All the looks on their faces pretty much said, 'You did not tell her?' And Susan feel a bit intimated, so quickly explained the games to Will.

"The Youth Games is special event for those between the ages of thirteen to eighteen, Will. It's where the young members of all families compete to show off their skills in various events, ending with contest in the Labyrinth. It used to be the way nobles determined who was the strongest, but now both commoners and nobles alike take part in the games." Susan told her daughter, who was looking bit excited and nervous at the same time.

"Looks like I get another shot at Uriah…if I can get beat all the other opponents as well." Will said in a way all knew she was just trying to put on a bold front for those present. Will wanted a chance to show she was not push over the nobles seemed to think she was, but was also scared at the idea competing front of who knows how many people.

"What events will you join before the Labyrinth, Will? You are good with your sword and with magic, so the regular dual and spell dual torments are right up your ally." Cornelia asked, secretly wanting to know so she could join the same one and try to impress Caleb by beating Will.

Before Will could answer though, Susan interjected. "I think Will should only take part of the Labyrinth, so she can save her tricks for that event. Don't forget, the reason the Labyrinth is there is because it's where all of you go at it in a free for all and the other contest are just for warming up and showing off."

Susan then noticed Will staring at her in horror and quickly explained further. "The Labyrinth has ancient and powerful magic that will prevent anyone's death Will. So there will be no one pulling stunt like Uriah. Plus the Labyrinth had been the only event at one point, the other stuff was added later. Most people only care about that one event in the end anyway, so training for just it will give the advantage you'll need…if you want to compete that is."

"I get to choose?" Will asked, which made everyone laugh lightly at, before Sade said, "Of course you can choose Will. You don't have to compete, it just that most young people do, so the can test their skills."

Will breathed sigh of relief that it was that it was not mandatory, but that made it even more tempting to join. Will then looked at her mother and asked, "When are the games? Do I have time to get ready?"

Susan was bit worried at this, since she wanted Will to wait a year before going for her first time, but at the same time was proud of Will. She was glad to see her little girl was willing to go up against the ones who mocked up until this point.

"We got two months, Will. It begin at the starts at the end of the summer so we can get you more then ready to compete. Your training is going to have to be increased a bit though. Between everyone else going to be training to win and getting you back into shape from your recovery from the fight with your father, its going to be tough." Susan warned, but Will still determined.

'Looks like she going for it Susan, no matter what anyone says. I feel sorry for those nobles who under estimate her' Yan Lin thought as Susan said Will's training would begin after their little vacation, then had they all went back to celebrating Will birthday. I would be the last few rests many of them would have until after the games, because everyone wanted do to do well.

This year's games were going to be intense, of that everyone was sure of.

000

AN: And there you go. Please let me know what you all thought. Also, in case any one wants to know, both if the Grumper sisters are level 3 Rouges and level 3 Wizards


	16. Will's Familiar Hunt

Chapter 15: Preparations and the Youth Games Begin

AN: And here is the next chapter folks. Once again, no beta reader, but hopefully I got the bulk of the errors cleaned up.

Once again I would like thank those reviewed last chapter: Darev, Philip Gipson, yellow 14, BlackRosefire, Nelo Akuma, Mecha Tails V666, Starwin, Kitsune6, The Crazy Talk Kid, shocklance and fergnerd.

Disclaimer: I do not own W.I.T.C.H. or D&D

000

Arc 2: Return of the Exiled Prince

Chapter 2: Will's Familiar Hunt

After getting back form her short vacation at the lakeside cabin, Will had gone all out in her training for the youth games.

The first thing she had done was learn the Lightning Sword spell from the scroll Yan Lin had given her for her birthday. It had been a little difficult, since it was her first second level spell, but Will still managed to get the hang of it after a week of practice.

Once Will had gotten the hang of a new level of magic, it made it easy for Susan to teach Will another second level spell called Blur, which would make it hard for people to hit Will with weapons or attacks spells.

To further bolster Will's mystic might, Susan also taught Will the first level spell Magic Missile, for long range attacks with the small energy projectiles it created and the zero level spell, Touch of Fatigue.

The last spell would be good if Will got in close and touched her opponents, leaving them feeling weak and moving more slowly.

Then there was of course, Will's Warlock training. Susan had been sure to have Will look over all the books give to her by Lord Hale and to go over Tomas' self made books, to look up a new invocation or two for the redhead to learn.

Will had been reluctant to read the books her now deceased father, but Susan had managed convince Will to look at them in the end. This was a good thing to, since Will found an invocation called Spider Walk.

This invocation would allow Will climb walls and ceils with ease, perfect for her use in the Labyrinth during the Youth Games.

All this magic training took Will three weeks to complete, but that still left her with one week and a month to focus on physical training, unless she could significantly increase her magic reserves to make learning a new spell or invocation worth the time and effort to do so.

During all this, Serenity had disappeared. She had left right after taking Susan and Will home from the lake, saying she was off to complete some sort of agreement Susan and the gold dragon had.

Will had tried to ask what Serenity meant by this by asking her mother, but Susan had kept quiet about the whole thing.

Will chose to just give up on asking about the matter and focus on her training. She needed to be as strong as possible to compete with the countless others who took part of the games, including her own friends.

Will knew it was just a friendly little competition, but her friends had told her to not hold back, because they would not. This was because it was for a mixture of both bragging rights and to test one's ability, you could not do this if you held back against your friends.

The group had all agreed to go all out during the games, and Will had not intentions of breaking the promise. Of course, she hoped they would be able to work together as some groups of friends did at the start of the final event, so to help thin the number of opponents until they reached the end.

Once this happened, the group would often have a final face off against one another and see who would be the victor of the labyrinth.

Though this was Will's hope, she knew should not count on this idea and made sure push herself to get as strong as she possible could.

That was why Will was trying to improve her skill with Soaring Blade right now. She would be better able to deal with almost any situation, if she could get a higher level of skill with the style.

As Will slowly moved in a pattern that would have been a series of attacks, she noticed two large shadows quickly fly overhead. Shortly after they passed by, Will looked up just in time to see it was Serenity and another gold dragon.

The second one was smaller then Serenity; but was still a large creature that one could ride on, if one wanted to.

As Will watched both dragons land in the castle courtyard, below the large balcony she was on, Susan came up form behind her and said, "Will, time to take a short beak from your training. There is someone I think you should meet."

Will looked at her mother curiously, but obeyed with out question and followed Susan to the courtyard.

000

When they arrived, Will noticed the new dragon was giving any person in sight a disdainful glare and seemed to be a bit annoyed. Serenity seemed to be trying to keep the smaller dragon inline with a few warning glances, but they were ignored by their target.

"I see you found him, Serenity. He looks very strong, but he seems a bit…unfriendly. How did you convince him go along with our agreement?" Susan asked, eyes the smaller dragon cautiously.

But before Serenity could respond, the smaller dragon roared out, "What agreement?! I demand to know why you dragged me here, mother!"

Will was shocked to hear this demand, she did not think this dragon could be related to Serenity. She was so kind and gentle and this other one was so…rude, to put it mildly.

"Kor! Behave yourself!" Serenity ordered and then looked to Susan with an apologetic expression on her face.

"True, many of my other children are better mannered then this brute here." Serenity started to say but stopped when Kor let out a growl and she smacked him over the head with her tail, before continuing.

"But considering how hard Will's life is going to be, I thought a powerful but hard to get along with partner would be better, then a friendly and weak one. Besides, he'll probably settle down after a month or two." Serenity explained to Susan, making it clear what Kor had been brought here for.

This clearly angered Kor and let out a powerful roar, before yelling at his mother, "How dare you! I will not be forced to submit to being some lowly elf's familiar!"

Serenity's first response to this, was giving Kor another powerful smack to the head with her tail, then proceed to verbally chew him out. "For starters Kor, Will is half-elf…" Serenity started to say, but Kor interrupted her.

"So instead being forced to bond with a useless unaging creature, it one that will die in a few hundred years? That makes it so much less humiliating!" Kor said in tone that was dripping with sarcasm. This got in another tail smack to the head before Serenity continued.

"Second of all, despite what you think, it is a great honor to be a worthy sorceress' familiar. The elves and our clan have been allies thousands of years and forming the occasional familiar link with one, proves that the alliance is still strong. Besides, it was agreed long ago my strongest juvenile aged child would be the familiar of Susan's first born child." The older dragon finished explaining and made Will look up at her in awe.

She was supposed to be partnered up with a dragon? For any spellcaster, this was dream come true. Dragons were powerful creatures after all, so they would make excellent companions if one needed a familiar who could fight along side them.

Kor was obviously less thrilled with idea and promptly stated, "I'm leaving. Go get one of my naïve siblings to be the one. I'm sure they would gladly follow the outdated traditions our clan had obeyed for far too long."

As Kor started to leave, Serenity moved to grab her son, but he used his tail to slap her in the face, just like she had been doing to him few minutes ago. This had been unexpected and dazed Serenity, leaving her even more unprepared for the cloud of smoke Kor shot of his mouth.

The smoke cloud was thick and black, making everyone in the courtyard choke and cough on it. When it finally cleared, Kor was long gone. He was a clever young dragon, using the cloud of smoke to prevent anyone form knowing which way he went, until it was too late to try and follow.

Serenity let out a sigh and said, "Let's head inside. It seems I have a bit to explain about Kor's attitude. He has reasons for his actions and I wish to discuss them, before we decide on what we will deal with the matter."

000

When Will heard Serenity say 'inside' she assumed the dragon meant a place that was meant to hold the large and powerful beast, not see the golden dragon changed into a elvin woman with long blonde hair, blue eyes, lightly colored skin and wore white robes; then enter the caste for the three of them to speak in private.

Serenity used the natural ability of gold dragons to change her shape to what she was now. But Will had not known this until after she had scene it, and it took the redhead a while to get used to Serenity's new form.

Once they arrived in Susan's office, they all sat down and had Serenity to explain why Kor seemed so hostile at being a familiar. The gold dragons allied to the elves were sometimes choosy about whom they joined with, but Susan had never heard of one whom out right refused, like Kor had done.

"So Serenity, why was Kor upset about this news? More importantly, why did you choose him to begin with? I know you prefer to keep your word and give Will a strong partner, but I'm sure you have had plenty of other choices you could have made." Susan asked, hoping to know the full reason for Serenity's decision.

"Kor has grown…wary of those who sought him for power. He truly is the strongest of those among his age group, but not just my own young, but of all the juveniles of my clan. This made many of the elves want him to be their familiar. Kor quickly grew to hate this and left to make his own lair when he became twenty-six." Serenity answered and made Will stare the gold dragon, since was confused as why Kor was called a juvenile if he was that old.

As if sense Will confusion, Serenity chose to clarify and said, "Will, we dragons have twelve stages of growth, based on age. Twenty-six to fifty is with in the juvenile stage. That was how old Kor was, when he left six years ago, making him thirty-two now and still well with in his age group."

While Will used this information as food for thought, Serenity continued telling Susan about Kor. "The reason I chose him was not only because of his strength, but in hopes of helping him to see he wrong about everyone being like those elves. The elder of my clan found out about this plan and said that if Kor refused, then there might be problems."

This news alarmed Susan and was about to ask what these problems were, but Serenity was prompt to explain before needing to be asked. "Such an situation has never happened before and many of the higher status elves had been offended by some of Kor's more rude rejections. The only protection Kor had, was from the agreement you and I made all those years ago. Since we could say he had been promised to another and that his attitude was his way to keep others from trying to make him choose them instead. If Kor's rejects Will, then the clan elders plan on making Kor pick one of the rejected nobles in an attempt smooth things over with them."

Susan knew this was serious then. Kor refused to be anyone's familiar, so if he were forced to be one instead of doing so of his own free will, it would be like he was a prisoner. That was not the reason for familiar bond and the dragon elders would not do such a thing unless they saw this problem possibly snowballing somewhere down the line.

"Will, me and Serenity have a lot to talk about, so why don't you go back to your training." Susan told her daughter. Will looked reluctant at first but she nodded her head left with out a fight, or so it seemed.

In reality, Will hid behind the door and listened in on the discussion, hoping she might be able to help in someway. Will blamed herself for this mess, even though she had done nothing. It was habit she had yet to break, despite her mother's best efforts.

"So Serenity, do you know where your son's lair is? If we can go there and tell him the whole story, maybe we can reason with him." Will heard her mother say, which made Will want to burst back in and say Kor should be left alone, Will restrained herself and continued to listen to the conversation.

"No, I'm afraid not. I found him hunting near the general area his lair is rumored to be in, but nothing exact. Even if his lair is in that area, it won't be for long, now that he knows of our agreement. If he is still the same Kor that I know, he is probably getting ready to move to a whole new location, to insure that he is never found." Serenity's voice replied, sounding very worried.

"Then we better try and search the area you found him and at least hope we find clues to the location of his new lair. If we don't find him, I would not be surprised if you're clan's elders ordered all the gold dragon hunt him down." Susan said in a grave tone of voice, making it seem that the last part would be VERY bad.

"That's probably the best course of action we have. His lair is supposed to be in the Gloomick Swamp. Not the usual location of preference for a gold dragon, since we prefer locations made of stone, like mountain caves and abandoned castles, but Kor probably wanted to insure he was left alone." Serenity told Susan, which was all Will needed to hear.

'I'll head there and find Kor myself. I'll tell him about what the other gold dragons plan on doing and then maybe I can help him out of this. At the very least, maybe I can get him to pretend to be my familiar until we can think of another solution.' Will thought, then headed for her room to pack for her trip for the Gloomick Swamp.

000

Two hours later, Will was packed to leave and hiding in the back of a cart that had just dropped off a shipment of food for the castle. Will would have preferred to go by horse, but Will needed to be sure her mother did not know she was gone for as long as possible.

Will planned on getting a horse or some other form of mount and supplies while in town, then head straight for the swamp. It would be easy for Will to have the money to do so, since her mother had set aside a small amount of money for Will's personal use.

It was made of monthly payments that were stored away in a special vault and have been gathering in size for years. Susan had started doing this many years ago, so that when she finally found Will; she would have lots of money to get what she wanted.

Of course, Susan never guessed that the money would be used by Will to go on a self-appointed mission to help a dragon avoid being forced to be someone's familiar.

When the cart had stopped, Will pulled up the hood of the cloak she was wearing and jumped before anyone saw her, quickly headed for the closest stable. Will got lucky in her search, since she found place that had something better then horses, griffons.

They were only for rent and not for sale though and had a collar to call them back after their time was up, but Will had enough money to rent one for a week and still be able to buy plenty of supplies.

When Will was ready to go, she noticed the number of guards on the streets were starting to increase in number, this made Will think her mother had noticed she was missing and starting a city wide search.

'Good thing I'm ready to go.' Will mused in her mind and got the griffon flying before anyone thought of stopping her.

It was as easy to control the griffon as it was for Serenity, so Will had not trouble flying the griffon to the swamp. Of course, once she got there, the hard part pf this quest would begin.

000

"Still no sign of her?" A worried Susan asked the guard who had come to report to her of the search thus far. She had gone to see how Will was doing with her training and to ask her opinion on the matter with Kor, but could not find the redhead anywhere in the castle.

"No my lady, though some of the men said they saw someone wearing the same colored tunic, pants and cloak your daughter often favors, leaving the city by griffon. Not a solid lead of course, but they thought they would report the sighting, just incase." The guard replied, then left to go check for more news from the search parties.

After the guard left, Serenity said, "She must have headed out to look for Kor. It is the only thing I can think of that would explain her sudden disappearance."

Susan could not help but agree, but she could not figure out why Will would do that. Will was not someone who sought power, so why did she leave to go find Kor?

"We better go out and see if we can track her down. If she is heading for the swamp, we should be able to catch her easily. There are few things faster then you in the air and if Will was the one on that griffon, we should catch up in no time." Susan said, just before a few another guard burst through the door.

"Lady Vandom, we just received word of bandit attacks at several near by towns and villages! They all struck at the same time and local troops are not enough to hold them off for long!" The guard reported and made Susan go pale. To have multiple attacks at the same time meant it was a rare attempt to organize a raid on a level that would be impossible to deal with, unless she got involved personally.

'Of all the times for this to happen! Will…please look after yourself until I can come after you. I can't abandon my duty, no matter how much I wish to find you.' Susan thought and then looked to Serenity.

"We will need to help those towns and villages before we go to look for Will and Kor. We better go all out and take care of them as quickly as possible." Susan told Serenity, who agreed and they both rushed out side so the gold dragon could assume her normal form and fly into battle.

000

Meanwhile, Will was quickly approaching Gloomick swamp. The griffon was able to fly through the swamp easily enough at first, but as they went deeper, it became too hard to maneuver thought the increasing number of trees and thus, made Will land the griffon on the muddy ground.

From there, Will rode atop the griffon, only dismounting when trying to see if she could find anything that might be signs that a dragon had passed thought the area. Will was unsure though, since most of her knowledge of tracking with still rather limited. All she could hope for was luck or fate would give her a helping hand.

Either one or the other (or possibly both) had a sick sense of humor, because the helping hand was not going to be a pleasant one. Just as Will got back on top of her griffon during her most recent track attempt, a wild black dragon, covered in scars, rose up out of a near by body of swampy water.

The sudden appearance of the black dragon sacred the griffon so much, it flung Will off and ran away. Will would have done the same, if not for the fact that thanks to Black Wing, Will had a deep fear of black dragons. She was frozen with fear and completely unable to defend herself, not that could do much against such a creature.

The black dragon prepared to bring its massive jaws to swallow the frightened half-elf whole, but as it did, a loud roar was heard and made both the black dragon and Will towards the source of the noise.

Both saw Kor charge into the area and let loose a stream of fire at the black dragon, who was rapidly retreating. Will was a bit surprised that Kor had scared the black dragon off, but she was not going to complain about it.

"Kor! Am I glad to see…" Will started to say, but was interrupted by Kor breathing another stream of fire at her feet.

Will jumped away and managed to avoid getting a massive hot foot, while Kor growled out, "Leave this place and never return. I am no one's slave, so don't bother trying to convince me I should go along with that bargain our mothers made."

The gold dragon then turned leave, but Will had not given up on her mission to help the stubborn creature avoid being the slave he did not wish to be.

"I'm not here to make you my familiar, I'm here to…" Will tried to explain as she chased after Kor, but got swatted by his tail and sent flying into a near by tree. The swat was a light one, so Will was not injured, but hitting a tree truck was never a pleasant experience.

It was getting very frustrating for Will to be treated this was by the one she was trying to help, so she decided to use a more aggressive approach.

Will quickly called on her Warlock powers and used her new Spider Walk invocation and climbed up the tree by sticking to its surface.

Will then leapt from tree to tree, until she caught up with Kor and the jump down onto the unsuspecting dragon's back.

"You again! Stubborn little pest! Don't you know when to give up?!" Kor roared as he tried to throw Will off his back by thrashing around.

"Look who's talking! The only difference is that you're not so little!" Will screamed out as she tried to hold on for dear life. Even with her Spider Walk invocation, keeping on Kor's back was not easy, but Will was determined to tell Kor her news, not matter if he wanted to hear it or not!

Eventually, Kor got fed up with trying to just throw Will off and decided to make her get off. He did this, by rearing up on his hind legs and tried to slam his back into a near by tree.

Will was too quick for Kor though and quickly jumped off his back and stuck to his wing. Kor stared at this for a moment, since he had been expecting Will to jump off entirely, not cling another part of his body.

"That explains how you managed to hold on to me up until this point, but this game ends now!" Kor growled and prepared to flap his wing outward, so to fling Will off.

Once again though, Will jumped to another part of Kor's body just in time to mess up Kor's plans. This time though, Will had jumped onto Kor's tail, not the best place to be holding onto when a dragon was trying to throw you off him.

Kor whipped his tail around, while Will was once again forced to rely on her invocation to help her hold, but this time it was a lot more difficult then when she had been on Kor's back.

After a few minutes and putting up a valiant struggle, Will eventually lost her grip and was sent flying off Kor's tail. Will's body slid across the muddy ground until she ended up in small near by pond.

After about ten seconds, Will rose up out of the water and looked very pissed. She had been roasted, pounded and now both soaked and covered in mud. The dragon was going to pay.

"Eat this you gold plated jerk!" Will yelled and fire an eldritch blast at Kor, which hit his left claw. It only stung him little bit, so hid did not really pay much mind to the attack.

"A Warlock huh? Not all that impressive of an attack, but I have seen worse." Kor said in a bored tone and started to walk away again, which only made Will angrier.

"I'll show you something impressive you think sculled lizard!" Will growled and fired barrage of eldritch blasts up into the air.

Kor saw the streak of pinkish red energy pass overhead and strike a large tree branch. At first, Kor paid it no mind, but then realized what was about to happen after it was too late. The wave after wave of energy blasts cut through the large branch and land on the top of Kor's head with a loud thud.

"OW!" Kor roared out and nursed the spot in his head that got hit. The trees in swamp were large ones, so some of their branches were pretty think and hurt if they were dropped form such a height.

Once the throbbing stopped, Kor spun marched over to Will while saying in an angry tone, "I assume you thought that was very clever. Well, now I'm through playing Mr. Nice Dragon!"

"Oh! So you call trying to kill someone who was trying to warn you about you're clan elders planning on making become a familiar, being nice huh? If that's so, then I hate to see you when the gloves are off!" Will yelled back, just As Kor got in front of her.

"I was not trying into kill you! I was just…wait. What did you say about what the elders were panning to do?" Kor asked, after realizing what Will had just said, but was still too shocked by the news to fully comprehend it.

Before Will could explain further though, both of them head roaring off in the distance. Kor looked to see the black dragon from before was coming back. This time though, he had brought a friend, a fellow black with a lot less scars then the first had.

"Get on!" Kor ordered and Will obeyed with out question. One black dragon was scary enough for Will, so she was not going to stick around to see how bad two were!

Kor ran as fast as could, knowing that he could not fly in swap with all the trees in the way. He quickly made his way to what could be called a small lake and called out, "Hold your breath for as long as you can!"

Will knew he was referring to her and took a deep breath, just as Kor dove into the murky water. Will could not see a thing, but trusted Kor knew what he was doing, as swam at speed well beyond any human could ever achieve.

About minute later, just before Will was about to be forced to let out her held breath, they finally surfaced. Will let out a loud gasps, as her lungs drew in the much-desired oxygen, then looked around to find them in some sort of cavern.

Several brightly burning torches lining the passageway, which Kor was now walking down, after climbing out of the water. "We should be safe in here. I have placed several spells that ward against evil creatures from entering the cavern and those two have yet to get past them." Kor said as continued his journey down the stone passage, with Will still on his back.

A few minutes later, they entered a large cave, with a small pile of gold on the far corner. Will easily guessed this was Kor's lair and that the pile of gold was the start of his hoard, something all dragons were famous for having.

'Guess this explains why it's so hard to find him, if his lair is hidden like this.' Will thought as she got off Kor's back, while said dragon started a fire in the middle of the large cave.

"We will stay here for a while until those two out side get bored and go away. In the mean time, could elaborate on what you were saying earlier about what the elders plan on making me be a familiar?" Kor asked as he laid down next to the fire, sounding a bit gruff, yet was still being a lot nicer then from before.

"I over heard both my mother and yours talking about how you…bluntly rejected several offers from elves and that it had upset of few of the high ranking ones. The only thing that kept those few from causing trouble was the promise our mothers made. Now that you rejected even that, Serenity said the elders of you clan plan on making you choose one of the elves you turned down, so to hopefully appease them." Will explained and noticed Kor was now looking both worried and angry at the same time.

"Those back stabbing…if I ever get the get the chance, I'll stuff their hordes down their throats! How dare they think they can force me into slavery! Just because those blasted elves safeguard the orb, they think they must bow down to them!" Kor roared in anger, while Will was confused at what the gold dragon was talking about.

"What orb? Is it something important to your clan?" Will asked, drawing Kor attention as if he was surprise as if he had expected Will to know what he was talking about.

"You don't know? Guess its because you have never live among the elves I suppose. I assume you have at least heard tales of the Dragon Wars, when both good and evil dragon fought to destroy the other, correct?" Kor asked Will, who nodded her head and allowed Kor to continue.

"As some of the those tales say, there were ten powerful orbs created during that time. Each orb controlled one of the ten main branches of the dragon species; gold, silver copper, bronze and brass for the good dragons and red, blue, black green and white for the evil dragons. Each of these orbs controlled the dragon its color matched and thus were used to end the war before all dragon kind was wiped out. Unfortunately, there were those who wanted to use these orbs to rule the world thus were scatted, while many fought to either protect or control them. The elves managed to gain possession of the Gold Dragon Orb and kept it in their care so to keep it out of the wrong hands. This was what caused my clan to forge the alliance with the elves, for mutual protection." Kor explained to Will who looked horrified at this information.

"You mean, you think the elves would use the orb just because one dragon refused to be an elf's familiar?" Will asked with a hint of anger in her voice, while Kor shook his head no and started speaking once again.

"No, but the elders and my clan are extremely grateful for the elves assistance in protecting the orb. Some of my clan become familiar as a way of proving that and is considered a great honor for both elf and dragon. But so many of the more annoying elves pestered me to bond with them, I swore to never join with anyone. This act might have the elders worried that the younger dragons might follow my example and that it would end the alliance when those dragon grew older and stopped the practice all together. I guess the elder do not want to risk the orb's safety and want to me to choose someone just to snuff out that possible idea in the younger generations of my clan." Kor explained sound very sad as he spoke these words.

After a moment of silence, Will stood up and said, "Then perhaps a temporary bond would help. Familiars can be dismissed after all, so you just pretend to be my partner until things have calmed down. Then I'll say I'm worried that I might be relaying on you're strength too much and I release you."

Kor looked at Will cautiously, trying to detect and hint of deceit in Will's words. He had grown weary of such reasonable sounding comments from those who wished to be his partner, yet detected nothing but pure intentions from the young half-elf before him.

'Perhaps there are those worthy of my strength…or is it that I'm worthy of theirs?' Kor thought and then grinned at Will and said, "Perhaps that would be a good idea, little warlock. Come, I'll explain how to form the familiar link as best I can."

With that Kor walked Will thought the process of forming their bond. What both did not know yet, was that their newly gained partnership was going to put work very soon.

000

Back in the swamp, the two black dragons tracking down 'allies' so to deal with Kor. Though both were the same size as Kor, they were much older and were mates. Kor had invaded their territory and had been trying destroy him ever since.

But Kor was very powerful and could defeat one of them with ease and two on one just barely even the odds. They needed to seek other creatures in the swamp to tip the scales, the Lizardfolk.

They were a race of humanoid lizards that rough seven feet tall, four-foot long tails and had green or gray scales. Most members of this race primitive creatures, but this tribe was a bit more advance then the norm.

It had learned to work metal, though not to level of quality human. The weapons still gave them some reasonable strength, so they would be of great use to the two black dragons.

Upon seeing the large creature enter the village, the tribe quickly got on their hand knees. They severed the dragons in exchange for being allowed to live in the swamp, so they were virtually salves to the pair.

"What do you require masters?" The Chief of the tribe asked, hoping it was not to take part of the raids on the near by villages, like the Barbarian tribes were doing. Those were the two black dragons doing, seeking to use the Barbarians to expand their hordes by looting the surrounding villages.

"The gold dragon has been allowed to invade our swamp for far too long. You are to gather your warriors and search for another way into its cave and destroy it." The heavily scarred black dragon commanded.

The tribe was visibly frightened by this command, but knew they must obey or be destroyed. "It shall be done our masters." The Chief replied and then stood up and started to gather all his warriors for the attack.

The black dragons knew the Lizardfolk would most likely be slaughtered by Kor, but they might still manage to flush him out into the open. Then they could hopefully take him by surprise and finish him off, once and for all.

000

Five hours later, Will was asleep next to the fire. She was tired from both the trip and forging the familiar link with Kor and needed a nap to recover her strength. Once she was rested, Will and Kor planned on heading back to the castle and explain what had happened to Susan and Serenity.

Kor was still awake and keeping watch over his new partner. He knew he would need to help the young redhead deal with her mother, since Will had gone looking for him without telling anyone, but that just made Kor respect the girl more.

'Brave little thing, I must admit. Mothers are scary creatures when mad and she willingly did something that will defiantly upset hers.' Kor mused, while he watched the fire burn, until he keen dragon senses heard something coming down the passage way on the far side of the room.

"Will, wake up. I think we are about to have company." Kor said as nudged the half-elf with his claw and then got closer to the small passageway. Will was bit groggy, but she drew her sword and got ready for the possibly coming battle.

"Any idea on who or what is coming?" Will asked, hoping it was nothing they could not handle.

"If I know those two black dragons well enough, they probably finally decided to order their Lizardfolk slaves to attacks this place. The wards at the main entrance won't stop the Lizardfolk, since they are not evil creatures and the group coming down this passage is probably just a distraction." Kor replied calmly, while started look nervous and glancing back at the main entrance.

"If they are good creatures, then why do they serve evil dragons? Shouldn't they be on our side?" Will asked while she kept looking back and forth between both sides of the cave.

"They are not good creatures either. They are what you would call a neutral species, neither good nor evil. They follow the black dragons because they rather live then turned into the black dragons' next meal." Kor explained, just as the first of the Lizardfolk came through the small passage.

Kor let loose a blast of fire from his mouth, taking out this first bunch of enemies, while Will started firing her eldritch blasts into the hole. This took out a few that were safe from Kor's fire breath and was keeping the first wave of Lizardfolk contained.

"When the second group appears, I'll need to deal with them since the main passage is wider then this. You'll need to try and contain this group off for as long as you can!" Kor instructed Will, and then unleashed another fire blasts into the passage.

"I don't know if I could hold them for long!" Will called out, as she fired another volley of eldritch blasts. She was surprised that Kor seemed to be so sure of the Lizardfolk's plan of attack, but she had feeling he was right.

"I'm not expecting you to hold them for long, just for as long as you can. Once it becomes too much for you, just head to where I am and get on my back. From there I handle melee combat, you use those blasts of yours for long range." Kor instructed, as he swung his claws at incoming Lizardfolk.

'Is it just me or does it seem trouble follows me everywhere? Or is it I find trouble? I'm not sure which.' Will thought bitterly in her mind, while keeping up her attacks. Just then, the Lizardfolk Kor had been expecting to come from the main entrance charged in.

"And that would be the second wave, must be every warrior in the tribe in on this attack." Kor said in a casual tone and dove into battle with the second group of enemies.

Will was starting to wonder if this was not the first time Kor had to deal with a small army attacking or was it he was just that sure of his strength. Of course, dragon scale was pretty tough and the weapons being used by the Lizardfolk looked crude. It was unlikely they would have any affect on Kor's hide.

'Me on the other hand…' Will thought as she ducked an incoming sword slash from one of her opponents. Will then quickly casts her Lighting Sword spell and the lighting bolt appeared in her hand. With both real and lightning weapon in hand, Will cut down the warrior, then waited for the next one to try and get passed her.

The Lizardfolk seemed to be reluctant to charge Will though, since they had not been expecting a second opponent in Kor's lair.

They knew that gold dragons had the ability to change their shape and were worried that maybe this was a second gold dragon in disguise. It was either that or she was a powerful ally of Kor's.

The fact Will was using magic was also what scared the Lizardfolk. Only a few members of the tribe could use magic, so they were not used to seeing magic in action.

"Why have you all stopped?!" A powerful voice demanded and the larger Lizardfolk Will had scene yet pushed past to the front of the group. This was the Chief of the tribe and unlike those who followed him, he was not scared of this girl who held lightning in her hand like it was a sword.

"Impressive trick little girl, but nothing I can't handle." The Chief said with grin on his face and suddenly, a scimitar made of fire appeared in his hand. The Chief of the Lizardfolk was Druid you see, so he was well equipped to handle Will's magic.

With his flaming scimitar in one hand and crude looking long sword in the other, the Chief attacked Will with great ferocity. The young half-elf was much weaker physically then the giant lizard warrior, but she was able to compensate with superior speed and agility.

Eventually though, the Chief's great strength gave him a small victory, when he knocked Will's real sword form her hand. The reason why this was only small victory, was because it shattered his own sword when he struck Will's.

This was minor annoyance to the Chief though, since he just dropped his broken sword and cast a second Flaming Scimitar spell, now having one in each hand. Will had to struggle to stop the twin flaming weapons with her lightning sword, but she was at least able to keep the Chief from actually hitting her with deadly burning blades.

000

Kor on the other hand, though having less trouble, still had his own problems. He could not even turn to check on Will, since so many Lizardfolk were coming down the tunnel that led to the main entrance.

They were so many of them, Kor's fire breath was of minimal use, making his needed to resort to his tail, claws and teeth for most of the fight. He was batting the lizard warriors aside like flies, but they just kept coming.

'Might have to grab Will and just make a run for it. These little pests are no real threat to me, but they can injure Will with these crude weapons of theirs.' Kor thought, while swinging his tail and sent two Lizardfolk flying into the wall of the cave.

As Kor got ready to starting breath fire once again, so to try and drive a few of the lizard warriors back, when he heard the sound of metal skidding across the ground. Kor looked over to see Will and one of the Lizardfolk fighting each other with weapons made of fire and lightning.

Kor was about to go help Will, when he realized that the Lizardfolk at both ends of the cave had stopped charging in and were keeping a close eye on the fight between Will and her opponent.

'Don't know what's going on, but I prefer it this way. Gives me a chance to think of an escape plan and how to grab Will, before these guys starting fighting again.' Kor thought and then kept a close watch on the battle before him.

000

After another five minutes, Will and the Chief started grow tired. With neither had been able to land a hit on the other and it coming down to who had better stamina at this point.

Will was still only using a single Lightning Sword, while the Chief was sticking to using two Flaming Scimitars. This was draining the Chief's reserves of mystic energy very quickly, but he had been hoping to have beaten Will by now.

'I must end this quickly, then lead my people against the gold dragon!' The Chief growled in his mind, while swinging his two fiery weapons at Will, who just dodged each attack.

Will was starting to get cornered, as she kept avoiding the Chief's attacks. The leader of the Lizardfolk thought this was to his advantage, since this would leave his opponent cornered, but the Chief was in for a nasty surprise.

The Chief swung his two Flaming Scimitars is scissor like motion; believing that the redhead was cornered. But he did not know of Will's full potential and had not expected her to leap into the air and stick to the wall with her Spider walk invocation.

The powerful reptile Druid was so stunned by thus, it left him wide open for Will to blast him with her Eldritch Blast right in the face, killing him instantly.

As the dead body of their leader collapses to the ground, the Lizardfolk turn tail and ran. In Lizardfolk society, only the strongest lead the tribe. That meant if this young girl was powerful enough to slay their chief, then they did not wish to face both her and the gold dragon.

As they retreated Kor said, "Nice work, did not think you would single handedly make them retreat by killing the big ugly one."

Will did not saying anything, since she was still trying to figure out what just happened.

000

The two black dragons waited near the pool that led to Kor's lair, expecting the gold dragon to come out so to try and attack any Lizardfolk that were out side his lair. When they saw the Lizardfolk coming running out of the water, both evil reptiles thought Kor would be close behind, but nothing came.

"Where is here?!" The more heavily scarred black roar out, as slammed his tail in front of the path a group of Lizardfolk. He and his mate wanted answers and he would have them now!

"The gold dragon had help from some sort of elf. She killed the Chief and several warriors, we had no chance!" One of the Lizardfolk explained in terrified tone of voice, just before the black dragon spewed acid upon him.

"One elf is what made you retreat! You fools better get back down there and kill them both or you'll be killed by us!" The female black dragon growled out to the Lizardfolk who did not get dissolved in her mate's acid.

The Lizardfolk were clearly torn between following the command or taking their chances here when all of sudden, two large shadows were noticed looming over both the two dragons and their reptilian salves.

"The only ones dying this day, will be you two." A female voice stated coldly and just as the two black dragon turned to see whom these two shadow belong to, they were attacked. The fight was over quickly and the two evil creatures now lay dead on the ground.

The Lizardfolk did not stick around to see this though. They did not wish to risk meeting the same fate at the hands these two new arrivals, who were now making there way towards the pool of water that led to Kor's lair.

000

Kor and Will were breathing heavily after their long fight. They were both hopping no more little surprises would pop up, but that hoped ended when they heard something coming towards them from the main entrance.

"Sounds way too big to be one of the lizard people." Will said as she picked up her sword and got ready for another possible battle.

"It is. In fact, I think it might be dragon, possibly two." Kor added and stood ready to unleash a blast of fire from his mouth if he saw anything with black scales come around the corner.

What did come around the corner was not what they were expecting though, it was Susan and Serenity; though Susan was as big as Kor right now, thanks to an Enlarge Person spell.

So naturally, Kor let loose his fire breath since he was still a little upset with them.

"Kor!" Will screamed out in horror, but Serenity was immune to fire attacks because she was a gold dragon and Susan had a few protective spells in place to render the attack harmless.

"Well…that a fine welcome for you're own mother. At least it seems you and Will are getting along." Serenity said as entered her son's little hideaway, while Susan shrunk back down to her normal size and ran over to check on her daughter.

"Will! Do you have any idea of how worried I have been?!" Susan exclaimed as she wrapped her arms around Will and squeezed her tightly.

"I…think I have…a rough idea!" Will barely managed to say, considering her mother's hug was making it hard breath. The redhead was wondering if her mother torn between being glad she was live or crushing her to death, because Will had never been hugged this hard before.

"You mind not killing my partner, I would rather not experiences the feed back of our link being broken, thank you very much." Kor spoke up, which made both Susan and Serenity look at Kor and Will in shock.

Knowing long list of question were about to be asked, Kor went about answer them so they could leave as soon as possible. "Yes, I am Will's familiar now. Since she came all this way to warn about the Elders' plan, I thought it best to go with a decent partner, instead of one of those whiny elf nobles. Worse comes to worse, we can just cancel the link once everything quiets down." Kor explained and got look of relief from his mother.

'That's good to hear. I know this was pretty much forced on you Kor, but trust, it has its benefits." Serenity said to her son, hoping to help smooth any problems Kor still had about this situation.

Kor said nothing and just went about placing a few last wards in the cave, to protect his small hoard of gold. After that was done, Serenity changed to her elvin form and Kor, surprisingly enough, changed into a small gray dormouse, so Susan could teleport them back to the castle.

Once back at the castle, Susan said to her daughter, "Will, since you helped Kor, I'll lesson the punishment I had planned for you little stunt about running off to the swamp."

Despite this being a good thing overall, Will was feeling scared of her mother's evil grin. The woman had such nasty little idea for the rest of Will's training for the youth games, ones that would make the redhead think carefully about doing something like this ever again.

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AN: There you go, please let me know what you thought.


	17. The Youth Games Begins

AN: Here is the next chapter of Shunned one. Sorry for taking so long, had trouble gewtting bete reader, until Cassidy Water Sage took up the job. Thnak again for the help Cassidy!

Wouldl ike thank the follwoing people for reviewing the last chapter: hisokauzumaki, ladygoddess8, sarahb, DayDreamer9, Lily887787, GuyverZero, Andivari, human kitsune hero, Heart of the Demons, fergnerd, BlackRoseFire, The Crazy Talk Kid, Darev, Darkness-Lightness, lost prince, Starwin, Nelo Akuma, yellow 14

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Arc 2: Return of the Exiled Prince

Chapter 3: The Youth Games Begins

The final days of Will's training were intense. Susan had Will run laps, doing sword drill, spars and mystic training until the poor redhead was on the verge of collapse.

The good news: there was little chance Will was not ready for the games. Her skill and physical conditioning was much better now, though Susan made sure to remind Will that her winning the Labyrinth was questionable, when her opponents had a much longer preparation time then her.

This was what Susan was lecturing Will on; as they rode in the carriage to the where the games would take place. Kor or as he was known as in his current form, 'Huggles', was on Will's lap, listening to this lecture as well.

"Now remember Will, don't let yourself get over confident. You have improved far more quickly then many would have in such situations, but you're far from being the strongest around. At best, you on par with anyone you will be fighting. Also, make sure you do not tell ANYONE about Kor. He won't with you in the Labyrinth anyway, so no point bragging you have such a powerful partner," Susan told her daughter, who looked like she was trying to listen, but was failing miserably.

"Susan, your daughter has had this a thousand times already. I know you want to make sure you drilled this knowledge into her head, but I think you are overdoing it," Serenity commented, who was in her elvin form and sitting next to Susan in the carriage.

Susan let out a sigh upon hearing and said in an apologetic tone, "You're probably right, Serenity. I'm just worried about this being Will's first Youth Games. Between being considered a 'top contender' by being the one to kill Tony and also already having several noble families targeting her, I want to make sure Will stays safe."

"Mom, I'll be fine. You yourself said there are special spells in place inside the labyrinth to prevent anything serious from happening, and until that event comes up, I'll be with you, Kor and Serenity," Will told her mother, hoping to settle the dark haired woman's concerns.

Will's words seemed to help Susan a tiny bit, but a mother tends to worry about anything that concerns the child. The fact Will had enemies at such a young age only made this common parental habit much stronger then the norm.

The rest of the trip to the location of the Youth Games was quiet and short. The whole area was already filled with both spectators and those competing in the games.

As Will (with Kor/Huggles on her shoulder), Susan and Serenity got out of the carriage, Elyon came running up to them.

"There you are Will! Sign ups are almost closed! You need to hurry if you want to join any of the competitions, let alone the Labyrinth!" Elyon called out as they got close.

Will looked confused at this, since her mother had told her that signs ups had already been taken care of. The redhead looked to the older woman for clarification, who was looking a bit concerned.

"Elyon, your mother said she had taken care of having Will signed up for the final event. She should be at the top of the list. Are you sure you did not miss it? The sign up lists can get pretty long after all," Susan asked, hoping this was just a minor mix up.

Elyon shook her head no and replied, "I checked the whole list for the Labyrinth event, and Will's name is no where on it. I tried to find my mother and ask her about it, but with I can't find her. With the games about to start, she's all over the place!"

This made both Vandom women look very worried and knew they had to get to the signup stand as soon as possible.

"Elyon, let me and Will deal with this. You just worry about your own events," Susan told the young princess and then quickly headed off to the signup stand, with Will, Serenity and Kor/Huggles following close behind.

000

At the signup stand, things were just about close down when Susan and Will arrived. To Susan's great annoyance, McDohl was apparently the one in charge of registrations this year.

'This would explain why Will's name was not the signup sheet when Elyon checked it,' Susan thought bitterly.

Her beliefs that McDohl had sabotaged Will was only strengthened when he grinned evilly at Susan and said, "I'm sorry, Lady Vandom, but signups have just closed. I guess your daughter will have to wait until next year to compete."

Susan resisted the urge to shove a Lightning Blade through the man's chest, as she replied in a polite tone of voice, "We are not here to sign up. We are here to check the list. Sade said she had signed Will up for her contest already, but we just wanted to make sure."

To bad for Susan and Will, McDohl was not going to be so obliging and said, "I'm afraid not, Lady Vandom. That would be against the rules after the signups have closed. One might think you were trying to sneak you're daughter's name onto the list during the check, after all."

The lord of Traders Central was clearly too pleased to inform them of this for Susan's liking. She was about exercise a little of her Royal Knight status, when a familiar voice asked, "What seems to be the trouble, Susan?"

Susan, Will and Lord McDohl looked over to see Sade approaching the stand. McDohl was looking a bit nervous now, while Susan was thanking all the known gods for this little miracle. Things would get sorted out now, with the Sade now present.

"Nothing to worry about, Sade. Just making sure Will was signed up for the Labyrinth after Elyon said she did not see Will's name on the list. I know you put it on already, and Elyon must have just missed it by mistake, but we wanted to be sure," Susan replied to the queen of Meridian in calm tone of voice, but Sade knew what Susan was implying.

Not letting on she caught onto Susan's silent accusation, Sade said in a reasonable tone of voice, "Then let's settle your concerns, then, Susan. I assure you, I wrote Will's name on the first page before brining all the sign up books here myself. We'll just take a look at it and this matter."

With that, Sade gestured for McDohl to hand her the signup book of the Labyrinth event, which he did uneasily, and Sade opened up the book to find Will's name missing from where it should be and the name of McDohl's granddaughter Alchemy's name, conveniently in its place.

Sade looked over to McDohl and asked in a dark tone of voice, "Care to tell me why Will's name is missing? I know for sure I wrote it in here…unless you wish to call me a liar."

McDohl frantically shook his head and exclaimed, "N-No, your highness. I'm certain you are telling the truth. I have no idea how Lady Wilhelmina's name has been removed, but I was certainly looking it the matter at once."

"See that you do, Lord McDohl. If not for the fact that, that sweet girl you call a granddaughter would be upset to find out she is not in the biggest event of the games. I would remove her name as punishment for this occurrence. Make sure it does not happen again, or I won't be so lenient next time," Sade stated coldly and then added Will's name for a second time.

After that was done, Sade left with the two Vandom women and Serenity, while McDohl cursed his bad luck. He had been so close getting that filth out of the games, but then the Queen had to show up.

'Maybe I'll get lucky, and Alchemy will deal a humiliating defeat to the freak in the Labyrinth. If only that girl was not so nice toward those abominations that we call the half-elves,' McDohl thought angrily, before taking the all the signup books to the people would need them to set of the tournaments for the games.

000

Meanwhile, with the three women who were leaving the signup stand, Will asked in a curious tone, "Whose McDohl's granddaughter, and what's she like? I knew he had one from what little I heard back in Traders Central, but never really heard names of any of his family members."

After taking a moment to see if she could detect any traces of Will desiring to hurt the girl in question (and finding none) Susan answered, "Can't recall her name off the top of my head, since McDohl's son and daughter in-law rarely come to public events, but from I hear, his granddaughter seems to the opposite of her grandfather."

Will was confused as to why the rest of Lord McDohl's family never came to public events, when she heard several voices calling her name. Will turned to see all her friends fast approaching her.

When they got close, Hay Lin asked in a concerned tone, "Did you sort out the problem at the signup booth?"

Will nodded her head and watched as looks of relief appear on all her friends' faces. "That's good to hear. It's no fun just watching others take part of the games while you get stuck on the sidelines," Irma said as the other others nodded their heads in agreement.

"Speaking of the games, who is taking part of what events before the Labyrinth? Still wish I had something to do between now and then, but a certain slave driver would not allow it," Will asked, while gesturing to her mother.

Susan rolled her eyes at this and lightly swatted Will in the back of the head. This caused the group to have shot laugh, before Caleb answered Will question, "Well, Irma, Matt, Nigel and myself are entering the melee tournament, and Taranee and Elyon are joining spell dual tournament. Hay Lin and Cornelia are doing the same as you and just taking part of the Labyrinth."

Will was surprised that Cornelia and Hay Lin were not taking part of the smaller events, but guessed both wanted to save all their new tricks for the final one. This was true to an extent, but not entirely.

Hay Lin chose only take part of the Labyrinth because it was the only event that allowed her to make full use of her skills. Training to use Rouge skills and illusion magic in combination was best meant for stealthily attacks, not head-to-head contests like the spell dual tournament.

Cornelia on the other hand, wanted to make sure Will did not get an idea on how training she had done over the last few months. If the blonde was going to impress Caleb by beating Will in the final contest, she would need every advantage she could get.

No one but Cornelia's mother knew this secret desire though, so there was no way for anyone to help prepare Will for the coming showdown between herself and the noble blooded Druid.

"What about Aldarn? Is he still with his people in the elvin lands or is not just taking part of the Youth Games?" Will asked, making Caleb shrug his shoulders in response.

"Not sure, have not seen him since the hunting trip. If Aldarn is here, he'll probably join the archery contest and the final event. Watch your back in the Labyrinth if he is in there, because Aldarn is a natural sniper and took out his fare share of opponents in the last Youth Games doing just that."

This made Will gulp loudly, knowing that archery was something Elves were famous for, and with Aldarn being a Ranger that focused on that, then he was probably just as silent as he was deadly.

"Well, no matter if he is here or not, you all should watch your backs anyway. The Labyrinth is the most grueling event for such reasons after all. Now, I think you should all get your waiting areas and prepare for the first events. They should be starting with in the hour," Sade told the group and they all head off, with the expectation of Hay Lin, who wanted to take a look at the dormouse on her shoulder.

"When did you get this little guy, Will? Is he your familiar?" the young illuminist asked, while scratching Huggles/Kor on the head. The transformed dragon hated this, but kept his peace while Will answered Hay Lin's question.

"His name is Huggles, and he is my familiar. I got about a month into my training, thought he was bit aggressive when I first met him," Will told Hay Lin, secretly smile at Kor's suffering. He laughed at Will while he watched Susan drive Will into the ground during the last few weeks of her training and the redhead found this as a bit of payback.

"He is so cute, though I'm glad I left my own familiar back home, or he might try and eat this little guy," Hay Lin commented while continued to focus all her attention on the rodent/dragon, not noticing the smirk on Susan, Serenity and Will's faces.

They knew what would happen if Hay Lin's cat tried to eat Kor, since he would just change back to his true form and turn the tables. Though they would have stop Kor before he actually did eat the poor thing or have very upset Hay Lin, if the gold dragon did eat the poor girl's familiar.

000

An hour later, Will, Susan and Serenity were sitting in the stand that looked over the arena that surrounded the melee tournament location. The melee and spell dual took place at the same time, so Will had to choose between seeing one or other and had picked to watch the one that had most of her friends involved.

Susan wanted to ask if it was really because most of her friends were in this one, or if it because Caleb was in it, but held her peace. She would tease Will when the redhead was closer to admitting her attraction to the boy.

The arena was split into ten smaller fighting areas, so to not take too long to hold the contest. Will watched as the first round combatants come out and was surprised to see Irma, Matt, Nigel, and Caleb were among them.

There were three others Will recognized as well, but they were not a welcome sight. Uriah and his two goons, Kurt and Clubber, were also in the first round. To make matters worse, Clubber was paired up against Irma and Kurt was up against Matt.

Will knew her friends were good, but was worried that Irma and Matt be in trouble. Both were very skilled, but lacked the fighting skill of pure combatants like Kurt and Clubber.

Uriah's two goons maybe slow in terms of thinking power, but they made up for it in brute strength as members of the Fighter class. They also had weapons and armor suited for that massive level of strength. Both wear full plate armor and Kurt carries a great axe, while Clubber wields a large war hammer. That was why many think Uriah befriended the two; they compensated for Uriah's weakness of multi classing into Fighter and Warmage classes, until he built up his skill level.

As if sensing her daughter's concerns, Susan put her hand on Will's shoulder and said, "Don't worry, Will. Matt and Irma might lack their opponents' level in pure combat ability, but the difference is not that great. Plus, Matt and Irma have other skills to compensate."

Will smiled at her mother, but looked a little worried until she heard a familiar voice say, "You really need to put more faith in your friends, Red. They'll have those two idiots beat in no time!"

Will spun around to see Roy was just sitting down behind her, along with her other old friends, Zerase, Grizz and Belcoot. Roy had his lap filled with snacks and drinks, which many would think he was holding for the group, but were really just for him. How the half-elf Rouge put all that food down and still had the slime and agile build needed to be a Rouge boggled the mind of all those that knew him.

"What are you all doing…" Will started ask, but Roy pointed to the matches before them and said, "Shush, the fights are starting…Candy Dragon Corn?"

Susan let out a small laugh while Will stared dumbly at Roy, before taking a handful of the candy coated treat and turned around to watch all the fights, mainly Matt and Irma's, since Caleb and Nigel had easy looking opponents right now.

000

With Irma, Clubber was looking very smug, as he readied his massive hammer for battle. "So you are one of the half-breed's friends? Time for some payback for what she did in the cafeteria," the powerfully built boy mocked, just before he charged forward and swung his large hammer down at the Arcane Hunter before him.

But even though Clubber had in strength, Irma made up for in speed and agility. She dove out of the way of the large hammer and got behind Clubber. Her opponent was a bit off balance at the moment, so this left him wide open for Irma to thrust her weapon at his back.

Since all weapons used in the tournament had to have the merciful enchantment on them, it meant Irma could strike at points that would normally kill a person, but only hurt them, not end their life.

Too bad for Irma, Clubber's full plate was very strong and blocked the strike. That was why it was ideal for large, but slow fighters like Clubber. The armor was thick and strong, making it hard for it to be pierced.

'This is not good,' Irma thought, as Clubber regained his balance and grinned evilly at her.

"You can't win, country girl, and when I'm done with you, your redhead friend is next. Uriah said we are going to break every last bone her…" Clubber started say, in an attempt to anger Irma into making a mistake, but instead caused him to lose the match.

Irma swung one end of her double blades sword so fast, it would have sliced Clubber's head off if not for her merciful enchantment on the blades. Instead, the enchantment made Clubber pass out by send a surge of magic flowing through his nervous system. He probably did not even realize what had happened when his body crumbled to the ground.

"Never threaten my friends!" Irma growled at the unconscious body, while the one refereeing the match declared Irma the winner.

000

With Matt, he was squaring off with Kurt. He was having a harder time then Irma, since all his physical abilities were good, but his main strength was that they were all well balanced, instead of excelling in any one area.

This meant that despite being more agile then Kurt, he was not able to make the stronger boy lose his balance and leave Kurt open to attack.

'I really need to consider increasing my speed training when the games are over,' Matt thought bitterly, as he tried to keep out of the way of the great axe Kurt was swinging at him.

"You can't dodge me forever, Olsen. I will win this match!" Kurt stated confidently and got ready to attack Matt again, when the young Bard quickly said, "Your shoes are untied!"

Kurt stopped and looked down, thinking they were, completely forgetting he was wearing armor plated boots that did not name laces of any kind. This left the stupid boy wide open to Matt's attempt to knock him out by, using the flat of his sword.

The blow struck dead on, but all it did was daze Kurt for a moment and look at Matt angrily. "That hurt!" Kurt growled out and got ready to slice Matt in half, when the Bard tried his trick again.

"Look! Your mom has brownies waiting for you over there!" Matt exclaimed and point to a spot behind Kurt.

"Really?!" Kurt said excitedly and the idiot turned around and left Matt with another opening to whack Kurt over the head.

This time though, Matt's sword shattered over Kurt thick skull and made Matt wonder what was Kurt's head made out, while of the now furious boy drop his axe and get ready to beat the snot out of Matt Olsen with his bare fists.

Matt was very scared now until he saw something else happening in Uriah's match and shouted out, "Duck!"

"Like I'm that du…" Kurt started to say, when the mace of Uriah's opponent collided with the back of Kurt's head. The mace slipped out of the owner's hand, which made it wined up hitting Kurt by accident.

This caused the one larger boy to finally get knocked out cold, much to Matt's annoyance. "I do that hitting purpose and he stays standing, but he gets knocked out by a random event?" Matt grumbled, while the referee of his match was talking with a few the other officials about what happened.

After five minutes of discussion, the declared Matt the winner, since Matt was still standing, while Kurt was not. It was less hassle then waiting for the idiot to wakeup and start the match over.

000

Caleb, Nigel and even Uriah had less eventful matches (despite his opponent losing he weapon and knocking out Kurt) and won with ease. The other matches went equally as smoothly for all of them until the last match before the semi-finals could begin.

Irma was now up against Nigel to see who would be up against Matt in their half the semi finals. Caleb would have the honor of pummeling Uriah, but the two combatants knew that did not matter if they could find him in the Labyrinth later, where they could do things to him that this tournament would not permit.

"So, Nigel, ready to see who the better double weapon user is?" Irma asked with a smirk, as she got her double bladed sword ready, while Nigel did the same with his Orc double axe.

"Oh, I'm ready, alright. Have to warn you though, I have been saving my little trick up until now. If you do happen to be as tough as I think you'll be, I might just have to use it," Nigel replied, clearly referring his Barbarian Rage.

Irma knew if Nigel used that, it would leave him winded and drained when it ended, assuming she could outlast the Rage. It was a powerful ability, and it would probably finish her before he ran out of steam.

'I have to beat Nigel before he uses his Rage; it's the only way to win against him,' Irma mentally concluded and waited for the ref to signal the start of the match.

When he did, both friends/opponents charged one another. Their double weapons were a blur of motion, both fighters making full use of both ends of their weapon of choice.

Both the Arcane Hunter and Barbarian were looking pretty even, as they slashed, parried and thrust at one another, but that was only because Nigel had yet to use his trump card.

After few minutes of being a dead lock for supremacy though, Nigel decided it was time to end the match. He suddenly had a wild and furious looking his eyes that made Irma think one thing before the next wave of attacks began, 'This is going to be painful.'

Nigel then charged forward and struck with such force, he shattered the blade on the right end of Irma's double bladed sword. The flurry of strikes kept coming after this, though, so the Arcane Hunter did not have time to worry about the damaged end of her weapon.

It did not take long for the endless assault to wear Irma down and by the time Nigel's rage ran out of steam, Irma had been disarmed and had an axe blade at her throat.

"This is…where you…give up…Irma," Nigel panted out, not noticing Irma's hand reaching for the dagger in her belt.

"I think not, Nigel. You forget I'm a rouge, as well as an Arcane Hunter?" Irma asked with a smirk and moved to strike Nigel while he was off guard. The one problem with this was he was not taken by surprise after all.

The young Barbarian caught Irma's hand before the dagger could strike and left the girl with any other attack options and forced to concede defeat.

"Good match, Irma. We'll have to have round two in the Labyrinth, where you can fight in the style you do best," Nigel said as he patted Irma on the shoulder, while they walked over to the sidelines to watch Caleb and Uriah's match.

"Yeah, even with my training as a Ranger, it's hard to keep up with you. Bet Taranee will be glad to hear you won…and mad I almost cheap shooted you," Irma said, adding a small joke at the end.

"Ah, don't worry about, she'll understand. Besides, you can dodge at least most of her spells," Nigel joked back, while Irma mocked shuddered a bit at the thought.

They both then sat down next to Matt on a bench and waited to see how badly Caleb was going pummel the orange headed boy for what he had done to Will at both the spell dual and her birthday party.

Matt were wishing it was him who got a crack at Uriah, but he knew that, in the long run, was more important he beat Caleb, instead of the one who had tormented Will.

'Uriah will pay soon enough; right now I need to impress Will by defeating Caleb. I just need to get past Nigel to do that. If Caleb beats Uriah quickly enough, Nigel won't have enough time to recover his last rage. That will prevent him from using it again and give me an advantage in our match,' Matt concluded in his mind, making sure to carefully plan his fighting strategy for the final matches.

000

"So, Caleb, ready to be shown who the better warrior is?" Uriah said in a smug tone, believing he could defeat the determined warrior before him.

"Anyone with a brain would know that will never be you, Uriah. Consider this match only a taste of the pain you are going to experiences by the time the games are over. You got a lot of people who want a crack at you for what you have done," Caleb said coldly, while getting into a fighting stance.

When the second the match began, Uriah charged forward and swung his blade in a downward arc at Caleb. Caleb blocked the attack though and countered with a slash of his own.

Uriah stepped back to avoid the counter, but was forced to focus on defense as Caleb kept up his assault.

The orange-headed boy had not expected such a furious series of attacks from the heir to the Russell family name. Uriah had been hoping the anger Caleb had for him would cloud Caleb's judgment and give Uriah the edge. This quickly being proven wrong!

'I can't keep up!' Uriah screamed in his mind, just as Caleb knocked Uriah's sword from his hand. Caleb moved in to strike at Uriah until he passed out from sword strikes, but Uriah managed dive out of the way in time.

Caleb pursued his target though and kept Uriah on the retreat so much, the head bully of Sheffield Academy could not even think of trying to retrieve his weapon. Even if he wanted, Uriah would have been defeated before he could try to use it.

Eventually Caleb finally managed to get his hands on Uriah and was about to start slashing away, when Uriah called out, "I give up!"

The orange haired boy knew it was only hope of saving himself a world of pain, since victory was determined by a person giving up, getting knocked out or being knocked out of the fighting area.

Anyone could tell Caleb was clearly focused on winning by hacking away at Uriah until he passed out, so Uriah decided to avoid that and gave Caleb the victory. Uriah knew he could get even in the Labyrinth if he found Caleb in that complex maze.

As the referee made Caleb's win official, the young warrior was tempted to just beat Uriah to a pulp anyway. But since that would only bring shame upon his family name, Caleb suppressed those urges and went to watch Matt and Nigel upcoming match from the sidelines.

000

Back in the stands, a certain elf and half-elf were very happy for Caleb's victory. Neither of them liked Uriah for obvious reasons and were glad Caleb could so soundly defeat him in front the whole kingdom.

"Well, that was interesting match. That Russell kid had his opponent literally on the run for most of the time," Belcoot commented, though he and the rest of his group were glad to see Uriah beaten.

News of Uriah and Will's spell dual and the final events of Will's birthday were wide spread knowledge and did make the four adventurers not like the only heir to the Dunn family name. If it were possible for them to do so, Roy, Belcoot and Grizz would have joined the melee contest just to get a shot at the spoiled brat.

"Caleb is a good friend of Will's, as are Irma, Matt and Nigel. Had Uriah faced anyone of them, you would have seen the same anger directed toward him," Susan told Belcoot, which made Caleb get even more respected from the four adventurers. Anyone who fought for Will with such intensity had their full support.

This did not stop Roy from having fun at Will's expense though and leaned over and asked Will, "So, Will, should Zerase be giving you 'the talk' while the rest of us ask what this boy's intentions are?"

This made Will turn a deeper shade of red then Roy or anyone one else apart of the adventuring had been expecting, making them realize a few things about Will and her feelings towards this boy.

Of course, that did not mean Zerase was not going hit Roy over the head with her staff for his stupid question, then made him shut up and watch the finals of the melee contest.

000

Both Matt and Nigel step forward to begin their match. Matt was feeling relieved that Nigel did not look back up to full strength yet from his late rage. If the young Barbarian was able used it against him, Matt would have even less chance then Irma did to win.

Unknown to Matt, Nigel would not have used his rage, even if he had recovered. Using the rage in the semi finals would leave him winded again and too weak to face Caleb. To win the entire contest, Nigel would have needed to win this match without his special ability.

"And…begin!" the referee said and allowed the two boys to fight.

Even with Nigel still a little tired, Matt was having trouble in this match. Nigel was much faster and stronger then the noble blooded Bard, putting Matt in a tough spot.

The fact that Nigel had a double-ended weapon made things even worse. It meant Nigel got a few more attacks in then Matt could with a long sword.

"You have done well to get this far, Matt, but it looks like it's going to be me and Caleb in the finals," Nigel said with a grin, as he and Matt locked blades for moment.

"Don't be so quick to count me out, Nigel. I have not lost yet!" Matt countered and broke away and tried to thrust his blade at Nigel's chest. Nigel dodged it though and kicked Matt in the stomach, knocking him to the ground.

Nigel then lifted one end of his Orc Double Axe to finish the match with one final strike. All those watching were certain this was the end for the young bard in this part of the competition, but Matt quickly proved those thoughts wrong.

'I won't lose! I must be the one to fight Caleb in the final match!' Matt yelled in his mind, just before he slammed his foot into Nigel's knee, making the young Barbarian wobble a bit as he tried to regain his balance.

This gave Matt time to get back to his feet and swing his blade in a downward slash at his opponent.

Nigel brought the center of the long shaft of his weapon to block the blow just in time, but did not expect what Matt was going to do as a follow up. Matt pushed forward with all his might and caused Nigel to stumble backwards, both falling to the ground and losing his axe in the process.

Matt quickly pointed his sword at Nigel's chest and said with a confident tone, "I believed I just won."

Nigel had to agree Matt was right, though he was glad Taranee was not here to see him get beaten by a Bard, even if it was Matt.

'There is also the fact that Matt acted like he did not just want to win the match. It was more like he needed to win. But Caleb has already beaten Uriah, so why would Matt…uh-oh. Is Matt going to…this is going to get ugly either now or in the Labyrinth.' Nigel thought as he got up and got ready to see just the first of many battles Matt and Caleb would have over the next few years.

000

Back in the stands, Susan, Serenity, Kor and Will's four old friends noticed that Matt's strong desire to win. For Susan, Serenity and Kor, she knew it was Matt's belief he needed to face Caleb and defeat him, so to gain more attention from Will and hopefully lose some interest in Caleb.

Will's old friends, on the other hand, were baffled Matt's fighting intensity, since they lacked the same amount of knowledge as the other three.

Will was the only completely ignorant of what was going on. She saw Matt's efforts as simply trying to show his skill to all those watching, like everyone else was doing. Despite her growing skills, Will was still a bit naïve due to her age and did not see this was more then a simple desire to do one's best.

'Wonder who will win? Caleb is trying to balance martial skill and magic, but Matt managed to beat Nigel, so things should be pretty even,' Will concluded mentally, while waiting for the final match to begin.

000

"Was not expecting you to make it this far, Matt. You really put a lot of training in for this years games, haven't you?" Caleb asked in a friendly tone, as he and Matt stepped forward to begin their match.

"You have no idea," Matt responded in friendly tone as well, but Caleb also noted a hint of seriousness to it. The young Fighter/Warmage brushed this off as Matt keeping his head in the game so to win the final match.

Caleb still mentally prepared himself as a precaution, but did not think Matt would come at him with too much force. Caleb did not know how wrong he was.

The moment the referee signaled the match to begin, Matt charged Caleb with everything he got. The force of his opening series of blows had Caleb on the defensive and it did not look he was going to turn the tables anytime soon.

000

Will was in a mix of awe and fright as the spectacle in the arena below. Matt's current display was impressive, but his ferocity was well beyond what she expected from the future head of the Olsen family.

"Looks like we got here just in time for the last fight," Will heard Sade's voice say, and Will looked to see a very tired looking Elyon and Taranee being helped by their families and Hay Lin's and Cornelia's families, to sit in the stands.

"How did the Spell Dual tournament go?" Susan asked, as she glanced away from Caleb and Matt's match for a moment.

"It came down to Elyon and Taranee for the winner, but Taranee had to forfeit. Her reserves of magic were too low to stand a fair chance against Elyon," Sade replied, sounding proud to claim her daughter was the winner of the Spell Dual at her first time taking part of the Youth Games.

Those who knew the two were glad to hear they both got so far on their first time in the games. Elyon was a bit expected to come out high in the ranking though, since she had magic reserves for both Arcane and Divine magic, giving her a good advantage stamina wise for spell casting. It allowed her to keep going where others would have run out of magic a lot sooner.

"So how did Irma and Nigel do before they got eliminated?" Hay Lin asked, wondering who beat the two warriors.

"Nigel and Irma were doing well until they faced off against one another. It was pretty even for them until Nigel used his Barbarian Rage to tip the scales. From what I can tell, that was what weakened him for his next match and allowed Matt to defeat him the semi-finals," Susan explained, noting a small scowl on Theresa Cooks face at the mentioning of Nigel using his rage.

"He should have been disqualified using that disgusting ability," the Paladin stated, getting a wave of cold glares from many of those present.

"Theresa, you said you would start being fairer to the boy. He is, after all, the one the guild had paired Taranee with to be her warrior companion," Taranee's father, Lionel Cook, told his wife, though he was one of the few that were not glaring coldly at her.

Lionel accepted Theresa's beliefs, but he did not support them. He often tried to convince his wife that Nigel was good kid; he just lived a different way then her. Of course, trying to convince a Paladin to accept a Barbarian was often like getting a gold and red dragon to get along.

There were many acceptations to this among adventuring groups for the two classes to get along and even been good friends. But for city based Paladins like Theresa, it was almost unheard of.

"How about we just watch the match and talk later?" Sade suggested, not wanting to start a small-scale war between Theresa Cook and those present.

Everyone, especially two certain girls, one having blonde and the other having red hair interested in following the Queen's advice. Both wanted to see how their mutual crush did in this final battle and see if he could win against the very determined Matt.

000

Back at the battle to see who the greater swordsman was, Caleb had finally managed to start counter attacking Matt and now the two were looking pretty even. Caleb's bastard sword clashed against Matt's long sword, both trying to gain the upper hand, but neither boy was giving the other an inch of ground.

"You are not fighting like you usually do, Matt. What's up?" Caleb asked so quietly, only Matt could here it. Caleb did not want the referee over hearing the conversation, since this was just between them.

"Do you expect me to believe you don't already know? This is about Will!" Matt hissed back, shocking Caleb so much, he barely blocked Matt's next attack in time.

After both boys exchanged attacks for a few moments, their blades locked again and Caleb asked, "What do you mean this is about Will?"

This only made Matt look a bit angrier and respond in a low growl, "We both have shown an interest in her, and I'll prove I'm the one who she should choose!" With that Matt pulled away and started brutal series of sword slashes at Caleb.

Caleb was able to fend off this assault, while he thought over Matt's words. They were like a slap to the face for the young Fighter/Warmage and made him realize something; he did like the redhead in that way.

Back when he and his father talked about it during the hunting trip and during Will's party when he and Matt both tried to be the one to dance with her, Caleb did not realize these feeling. But he did now, and unfortunately for Matt, this meant Caleb now had equal reason to win this fight.

With loud battle cry, Caleb launched his own assault and now sparks formed in the air as both blades clashed again one another.

000

Back in the stands, but far away from Will and the other were sitting, was Julian, Abele and the Olsen family were watching the fight and were quickly growing concerned.

"What's gotten into the two of them? I have seen them spar before and they never acted like this," Matt's father asked, while his wife looked horrified at how furiously her son was battling one of his own friends.

Both Julian and Abele knew what was going on though, but before they could explain the situation, Matt's grandfather spoke up. "I believe they have both come to a realization about girls. To be precise, a certain redheaded Vandom who we all know.

The two Russells should have known the old man would see what the cause of the battle was. Ted Olsen was a very observant man and probably realized that both boys liked Will from how they acted at Will's party.

Matt's father and mother on the other hand, had been taken back by this information. After a few moment of absorbing this new found knowledge, they came to a conclusion. They needed to hope Matt succeeded winning Will's heart.

They had nothing against Caleb and admit he was equally worthy, but they liked the girl and would not mind having her part of their family. There were also political gains to be considered as well, since Will marrying into the Olsen family would greatly help their goals of to improve the treatment of Will's race in the kingdom.

The Olsens needed a catalyst for such things and for Will to be Matt's wife could certainly provide that.

'Of course, the key factor that both boys have yet to realize, is that they need to do more then pummel each other to impress Will. Also, how does Will feel towards either of them? Susan is likely having Will choose who she wishes to marry when she grows older, instead of arranging a marriage, so how do we get Will to gain feelings for Matt?' Matt's father wondered, knowing his own wife was probably having the same thoughts.

Matt's grandfather and Caleb's parents could tell what the two Olsens were thinking and knew this was very bad. The Russells wanted Will to choose Caleb. The Olsens wanted Will to choose Matt. And the deciding factor was the girl in question. This was going to get worse before it got better, that was for sure.

000

Meanwhile, Matt and Caleb's match continued. The non-stop combat at such an intense level was starting to drain the two boys and was now breathing rather heavily. This did not weaken either's ones resolve though, and both kept trying make their bodies go the extra mile in the battle for Will's attention.

Matt, knowing he needed to start attacking in less common way if he was to win, jumped into the air and flipped over Caleb. While in the air, Matt continued attacking Caleb, but the brown haired boy kept up his defense until Matt was back on the ground.

When Matt touch down though, he swung his blade in an upward arc, but Caleb stepped back to avoid it.

Caleb then stepped forward once again and sent his foot connecting with Matt's chin. This caused Matt to stumble onto his back, while Caleb jumped in the air and was aiming to slam his sword straight down at Matt.

Matt managed to roll out of the way in time to avoid the strike that would have ended the match though and countered by swinging his own blade at Caleb's legs.

Now it was Caleb's turn to dodge, as he jumped into the air to avoid the attack. When his feet touched the ground again, Caleb lunged forward at Matt with a thrust of his sword, which Matt did as well.

If not for the merciful enchantment on their weapons, the two boys would have been killed in this maneuver, but like what happened in many other matches before this one, both Matt and Caleb passed out instead.

000

A few hours later, Caleb woke up the medical tent, with his parenting sitting next to the cot he had been sleeping in.

"Good to see you awake, Caleb. You and Matt had a lot of people worried after your match; it was like you two were possessed!" Abele told her son. She, of course, already knew why the two boys acted they way they did, but to get Caleb to admit to anyone she needed to play ignorant.

If she or Julian admitted they knew of Caleb's growing attraction to Will, he would deny it and it would make it harder to convince Caleb of more civilized methods of getting Will's attention.

The last thing both families wanted was a small war break between their sons. This made the Russells and the Olsens make a silent agreement, get the boys to romantically pursue Will, not beat each other to a pulp!

At the moment though, Caleb's concerns were not explaining what happened in the fight. He was more concerned on who won, which was made clear when he looked at his father and asked that very question.

Both of Caleb's parents hid their sighs of annoyance, while Julian answered, "It was a draw. After all things were considered by the judges, the gold metal was awarded to both of you. Nigel was given silver and Uriah was given bronze by default."

Caleb looked a bit angered at this, mainly at himself for allowing Matt to get blow in as well and vowed to make up for his mistake in the Labyrinth.

Seeing this made both Abele and Julian assume now was not a good time try and talk to Caleb about what had happened and led him the meal tent, since it was getting close to dinner time.

000

In the meal tent, Will, her friends and the families were sitting down to eat. Taranee and Elyon told recaps of the matches in their own tournament and everyone one was annoyed to hear the Grumper sisters did not take part of it.

It was unsure if it was because they feared facing off against Elyon and her Gifted powers or Taranee, who Will just found out was offered membership into the Arcane Order, an elite guild for Wizards. It explained what Taranee's father had said earlier about Nigel being chosen by some guild to be her warrior companion.

"I still can't believe you got offered membership, Taranee. I'm not an expert on guilds, but I heard that is one of the best ones. Why did they make Nigel your warrior companion? What ever that is," Will asked, since she never heard of someone being called that before.

"It's a new idea the guild and Nigel's Barbarian clan came up with, since most times magic users like me are weak at close combat. It especially helps members of the guild to travel to find lost and ancient magic, since they have someone watching their backs," Taranee explained, looking very happy to be allowed near Nigel and her mother could do nothing about it.

The others were happy for the dark skinned wizard, though they could tell Theresa Cook was less then happy with the arrangement. The Paladin sat quietly eating, while Taranee explained everything, but Theresa did show signs of being bit annoyed.

The brooding Paladin did not spoil the overall happy mood, which for two certain girls got even better when Caleb entered the tent. Both Cornelia and Will resisted the urge to call out to Caleb to sit next to one of them, but for two different reasons.

Will did not want to embarrass Caleb or herself by acting so foolish, while Cornelia was trying to different approach to getting Caleb's attention. The blonde haired Druid had realized that Caleb was not responding to blunt shows of admiration, so she was trying a more subtle approach.

'If being quiet works for Will, then it will work even better for me. After all, that is the only thing that is different between us, besides that tomboy look of hers. There is no way I can fail to get Caleb's attention if I do the same,' Cornelia thought, but then grew annoyed when Caleb immediately sat next to Will when he reached the table.

Elizabeth noticed that and whispered to her daughter, "Just be patient, Cornelia. You have been coming on strong for years, so Caleb will not notice a more gentle approach right away. Just wait and I'm sure you'll hook Caleb eventually."

Cornelia felt better after hearing her mother's words, but she hated watching Caleb be so close to the one girl who might be able to beat her at getting Caleb's heart. Though she had no way of being certain, she had good feelings the redhead was connected to how both Caleb and Matt were acting earlier during the melee tournament.

'If that is true, perhaps if I help Matt get Will, then he can help me get Caleb. But how to get Will to lose interest in Caleb, that is the question,' Cornelia pondered, while she ate and tried to come up with a plan to approach Matt with.

000

Mean while, Matt was eating with his parents at another table, who were having bit more success with their son then Abele or Julian had with Caleb earlier.

"Matt, I know it's hard to understand, but the current methods you are using are not the key to getting Will to pick you over Caleb. True, looking like you are worthy through show of skill can help, but you need more then that. You need to use a more gentle approach," Matt's dad told his son, who was only paying half attention to these word as he watch Caleb sit next to Will.

Matt's father let out a sigh as watched where his son's gaze was aimed at, while Matt's mother took a shot and talking to her son.

"Matt, be very careful as what you do. Really on too much on displays on strength and you will scare off. The way you fought earlier scared many of those watching; That most likely included Will. You're a Bard, Matt; make use of your real strength. Use your charm her, not your fists," Matt's mother explained to her son and seemed to have through to him a bit.

"I guess that's true…but what about tomorrow? If I find Caleb in the Labyrinth, shouldn't I still try to finish what I started?" Matt asked, clearly not liking being tied for first place in the melee tournament.

"That you should, son, but be sure to not get out on control like you did in your last fight with Caleb. Fight smart, stay in control of yourself and use you more subtle abilities. Magic is allowed in the Labyrinth, after all, and you don't want get into a head on battle with Caleb when he can use his combat spells," Matt's father cautioned his son.

After that, the Olsens went back eating, knowing that for now, there was nothing else to discuss. But what the Olsen did not know was that this rematch would only be the first of many intense battles to be fought tomorrow.

Old enemies would be challenged, friends would fight one another and new friendships would be made. It was going to be a Youth Games to be remembered, that was for sure.

000

AN: And there you guys go, hope you enjoyed it. Cassidy is working editing on the next two chapters, so I should new updates very soon.


	18. The Labyrinth: Part 1

AN: Here is the next chapter of Shunned One, which was once again beta read by Cassidy the Water Sage. Thank again for your hard work Cassidy.

Would also like to thank following people for reviewing last chapter: BlackRoseFire, yellow 14, Starwin, lost prince, shocklance, Philip Gipson, DayDreamer9, Lily887787, Darev, Nelo Akuma

Now on with the fic!

000

Arc 2: Return of the Exiled Prince

Chapter 4: The Labyrinth: Part 1

The next day, everyone one was gathering for the final event of the Youth Games. All the contestants stood in a giant circle, waiting for a strange metal armband to be clamped onto one of their arms.

The armband was gold in color and had a blue crystal embedded into it. Her mother had told Will that the armband had three purposes for the final event.

The first purpose was to prevent anyone's death, by working in combination with the ancient spells that enchanted the Labyrinth. If a person were about to be killed, that person would be teleported out of the Labyrinth and into the medical tent, just in case teleport responded too slowly to the potentially deadly attack.

The second purpose was in case a non life threatening injury happened, but made it impossible to continue. The injured person could simply touch the crystal in the armband and declare they give up. They would then be sent to the medical tent, just like someone who had been 'killed' would.

The third purpose for the armband was to provide a small amount of food and water three times a day, since this event kept going until there were three winners or until there was only one left standing in the Labyrinth.

To be one of the three winners, one had to reach the center of the Labyrinth and get one of the three medals waiting for those people. The first one to reach the room got the gold medal and then would be teleported out of the Labyrinth, where the lucky person could celebrate their achievement until the silver and then the bronze medal winners were decided.

Those three were declared the strongest of all the kingdoms' youth for that year and often brought great prestige to their family, especially if you were the gold medal winner. Members of noble families often gained considerable bragging rights from this achievement and those of common blood often got much attention from special guilds or other such groups that would only add to the renown the family would gain.

Of course, to get to these medals, one needed to get passed their fellow competitors and the Labyrinth itself. The maze was filled with traps and its walls would shift every so often, just to keep the ones inside guessing if they were heading the right way or to another dead end.

"Good luck, Will. I know I have told this a thousand times already, but be careful. There could be those in the contest that might just aim to hurt you, instead of defeating you. If it looks like that is happening, please just forfeit. I don't want you…" Susan started to say, but Serenity placed her hand on her partner's shoulder in a comforting manner.

"Susan, this is Will's challenge, not yours, mine or even Kor's. Let her fight her way and have faith that she has learned from you," the transformed dragon familiar told her partner, while Kor/Huggles sat on her should and nodded his head in agreement.

Susan let out a sigh at this advice, while Will gave her mother a hug and said, "I'll be okay, Mom. Besides, I have survived worse back in Traders Central. I can handle the Labyrinth."

Will's assurances did not help her mother much, but the older woman did not have time to say much as she heard a horn being blown to signal all those not in the final event to get clear of the circle.

The circle was giant version of a teleport circle and would send all those in it to random spots on the outer edge of the underground maze. Un theory, this prevented any preformed alliances from being of any use, and force all those competing to rely only on their own skills.

000

Meanwhile, others were getting last minute advice as well, before their families left the circle. For Irma, Taranee and Hay Lin, it was just simple words of encouragement, but for Caleb, Matt and Cornelia, it was something a bit different then a pep talk.

For Matt and Caleb, the final word of advice was to keep themselves under control once they managed to find the other in the underground maze, while Cornelia was getting small tip/gift from her mother.

"Cornelia, if you are to defeat Will in the Labyrinth, if you can find her; you will need to be careful to make sure it's on your terms. You must make the first attack, and at location that will be more benefit to you than her. The second thing you will need is to use that style we have been working on. It's the only thing you can use to counter Will's Soaring Blade style," Elizabeth told her daughter and held out a staff to Cornelia.

Cornelia nodded her head as she took the staff, feeling very relieved that her mother was going to let her use the Sword and Staff fighting style. The style's name was not as impressive as Soaring Blade, but style itself, made up for it.

Sword and Staff used the two weapons in combination with a special form a Druid martial arts, to create a powerful fighting that style that focused more standing in one place and let the target(s) come to you.

The Sword and Staff fighting style was the opposite of Soaring Blade, since Sword and Staff was more defensive in nature..

Cornelia's parents then left the circle, confident that their daughter would do well. Cornelia's father had mixed feelings about his daughter training to beat one her own friends, but he knew a young girl did what she wanted when it came to love and took a neutral stance on the matter.

He just hopes the coming rivalry between the two girls would not get out of hand.

000

After all the parents were clear of the circle, Sade began casting the spell that would send all the young warriors and magic users into the Labyrinth. Upon completion, a bright flash of white light filled the area, and when it subsides, all those in the circle were gone.

"Alright, everyone, let us move to the near by town to wait for the end of the games. This will probably take several days for even the first to finish the Labyrinth, so we might as well wait some place comfortable," Sade instructed the crowed of adults, who obeyed the Queen and got ready to head for the town.

000

In the Labyrinth, Will appeared in an empty and dimly lit hallway. When she looked behind her, she found it was dead end, leaving her with only one direction to go.

"Okay, let's see…Mom said it was likely that I should not find anyone right away, but to stay on guard just in case,' Will thought and pulled the hood of her cloak, so to take advantage of the low level of lighting with the black color of the cloak.

Will's half-elf eyes would also be of great use to her in this situation. A half-elf saw twice as far as a human in low levels of lighting. It was not a major advantage, but Will knew to take everything she could get in a contest where it was pretty much a no holds bard survival test.

000

In a different part of the ruins, one of Will's friends had encountered someone right off the bat, two people to be precise.

Hay Lin had wound up in a room with the Grumper sisters, which was clearly bad news for the petite girl.

With the Grumpers have the same type of training and on the same level of skill as her; Hay Lin stood no chance against them in battle. So Hay Lin did the smart thing and started running for her life.

"Get back here, shorty! We'll make your elimination quick and painless if you do!" Bess called out, as she and her sister chased after Hay Lin.

"Look who's talking! You're shorter then me, Bess!" Hay Lin called back, then started mumbling something under her breath, while the shortest of the Grumper sister let out a furious growl.

The two Grumpers were about to start firing spells, just as three very familiar figures came around the corner, making the two sisters stop in their tracks and Hay Lin breath a sigh of relief.

The three figures were Irma, Elyon and Taranee and were giving the Grumper sisters cold glares, while Hay Lin got behind them and said in a relieved tone, "I'm so glad to see you guys right now!"

As Hay Lin said this, Taranee and Elyon raised their hands in manner that indicated they were getting ready to start firing spells, when the Grumpers turned tail and ran. They knew Taranee and Elyon alone were too strong to beat, add on the fact Irma was there and the two sisters knew it was their turn run for their lives.

As the Grumper vanished form sight, Hay Lin ended her illusion spell and the image of her friends faded away. The young illusionist then smiled and said, "That went better then I hoped."

000

Irma also appeared in the same location as someone she knew, but this was a more welcome occurrence then Hay Lin's. She appeared in the same as Aldarn, the one person everyone was unsure of if he was in this year's games or not.

"Never thought I would lucky to run into a familiar face so soon. We are not going to try and kill each other, are we? Not yet, anyway," Irma joked, getting a chuckle from the pure blooded elf.

"I would not mind having someone with melee skills backing me up, while I use my bow. Let's stick together until we find those medals, then we find out who gets the gold," Aldarn replied, giving the Arcane Hunter a smirk at the last part.

Both Rangers then headed out to explore the Labyrinth and take down those they come across along the way.

000

Elyon was entering a chamber with four entrances, when she heard screaming. This made the young princess get her staff ready for battle and wishing her familiar Silvia was here to help. Moments later, the two Grumper sisters ran into the room.

Elyon was about to attack with a spell, when the two girls saw her and started screaming even louder, before Bess ran through the pass her right and Courtney ran to the one to her left.

"What was that all about?" Elyon asked aloud in a very confused tone. She had expected the opportunistic Grumpers to take advantage of the two on one situation, not run away in opposite directions.

Had Elyon know why the Grumpers were so scared, she would have laughed so hard her sides would have hurt. But she would probably have to wait until the contest was over and got the story from Hay Lin.

000

Five minutes later Courtney ran into another chamber and found another person who had been in Hay Lin's illusion as well.

Taranee looked very confused when she heard Courtney scream out, "How can you be everywhere?!"

When Courtney turned to run away again, a stone slab rose up out of the floor and sealed the entrance. The older Grumper did not have time to stop, though, and ran face first into it, making Taranee burst out laughing.

"You won't be laughing for long, Cook. I'll see to that!" Courtney growled as she got back up, the pain from running into the wall knocking her back to her senses.

Courtney fired a Scorching Ray, but Taranee countered with one of her own, both rays colliding head on and canceling each other out.

"You can't beat me, Courtney, not when it's one-on-one fight. Now, how about I teach you a lesson for ruining Will's party?" Taranee stated in a cold tone and then pointer her finger at Courtney.

A lightning bolt fired from her fingertip and hit the oldest of the Grumpers in the chest. With all the training Taranee had put in for the games, she had gained the power to finally cast third level spells and planned using them to make Courtney pay for what she and her sister had done.

It only took five seconds, before Courtney disappeared in a flash of light, thanks to the protective spells inside the Labyrinth.

Taranee took great pleasure in knowing that the girl would not suffer the shame of being defeated so soon after the event had begun, though did secretly admit she could have made Courtney suffer a bit more.

'Well, no use crying over spilt milk. At least I got her and that is what counts,' Taranee thought, before she turned to leave and then found all the other entrances had been sealed as well.

"Okay…how do I get out of this mess? Wait for the Labyrinth to shift again?" an annoyed Taranee grumbled as she tried to think of a way out of this predicament.

000

Bess had lasted longer then her older sister, as she ran through the underground maze. She eventually wound at a dead end and started to catch her breath.

"That was…a…close one…right…Courtney?" Bess asked, then looked around to see her sister was nowhere to be found.

"C-Courtney?" the younger Grumper asked in frightened tone, knowing she was in trouble if anyone of Will's friends found her right now.

Just then, the floor opened up beneath Bess, and she slid down a stone ramp into another room. Bess looked around to see there no way out, or at least not yet. There were two spots that looked like they could be used as entrances/exits, but the Labyrinth's shifting walls had those to doorways shut at the moment.

As the youngest Grumper waited for one of the two doors to slide open, three more people and one animal fell into the room, thanks to portion of the ceiling opining up. All three and animal were the kind Bess would not rather be trapped with, Cornelia, Snowflake, Matt and Nigel.

"Did not know the ramps had inter connection points," Matt groaned out as he rubbed his head from when the three of them collided into each other half way through the drop.

"Same here. Guess most people don't see ramps connecting to each other since it's so dark, and they are sliding down so fast," Nigel added as he got to his feet.

"You guys did not know that, and both of you have been in here before. Guess being a veteran does not mean much down here in the final event," Cornelia grumbled and was about to check and see if Snowflake was all right, when she noticed the white tiger was growling at something.

All three friends looked over to see Snowflake was growling at Bess, which made the youngest of the Grumper sister start to shake in fear. All three friends draw their weapons so to make the girl pay for what she did to Will.

'Will maybe stealing Caleb's attention from me, but I will not let Bess get away with what she did on Will's birthday. Besides, I don't like Bess on even a normal day,' Cornelia thought as got both scimitar and staff ready, and then looked at her partner.

"Snowflake, get her!" Cornelia ordered her animal companion and the three friends quickly followed after the white tiger, while Bess screamed so loud the whole Labyrinth probably heard it.

000

In a different part of the Labyrinth, Caleb was the one fighting at a handy cap. Three boys, who were part of the group who insulted Will in the cafeteria a few months back, had found him while they were wondering the Labyrinth and were trying to take Caleb down for pummeling them into the ground.

But the trio were much less skilled than Caleb and were focused on close range combat, giving Caleb the advantage of having magic. With a powerful Fire Burt spell, Caleb blasted his three attacks with the wave of flames burst from his body and forced the protective spells in the Labyrinth to activate.

As the three boys were teleported away, Caleb heard the sound of screaming coming form somewhere in the Labyrinth. 'Wonder what happened? There is nothing that scary Labyrinth…most of the time. Must be one heck of illusion or enchantment spell to make someone scream like that,' Caleb thought as he went back to searching for the medal room.

000

It was many hours later, when Will stopped for what she assumed was night time, for a rest. The reason Will assumed it was night time, since she already had her lunch meal a few hours ago and the arms band had just provided her with a second meal for water and bread.

Will had a feeling she was going to be tired of bread after this contest was over, if it was all she was going to be eating for who knows how many days. Her mother had told her that this contest once lasted three weeks because of how hard it was to navigate this ever shifting maze.

'I hope I won't be down here that long. Don't think I could take it,' Will thought as she picked up the steel cup that held her water and took a sip. As she did though, Will thought heard something and put the cup down and looked to see if anyone was around.

'We all get meals at the same time. You would think someone would stop to at least eat before try explore this place some more,' Will thought and drew her sword.

A moment later, a shadowy figure dove around a near by corner and struck at Will with two short swords. Will blocked the twin blades and while doing so, got a better look at her opponent.

The person was a little shorter than Will and wore a dark red cloak, while the rest of the person dressed in black. The hood of the cloak was pulled up like Will's was, but this person also wore cloth around where his or her moth was, hiding her attacker's identity. The only thing will could tell was that this person had green eyes, but that was all.

After a moment of locking blades, both Will and her attacker jumped back and prepared to mount a new attack. What confused Will though, was that her opponent slipped into a strange stance and now had shadowy apparitions swirling around him/her.

Will had never seen nor heard of such a thing and it did not look like any spell or invocation had been used, so the redhead did not know what was going on.

This gave Will's opponent the chance to strike first and dove at the half-elf a second time. But Will was once again able to avoid be struck and sidestepped the charge and moved to counter attack.

This was when Will found out the purpose of the shadows that flowed around her enemy; they block attacks! The second Will had tried to strike, one of the shadows had moved in the way and deflected her blade.

This gave the twin short sword wielding warrior time to turn to face Will and again swing the two blades in a scissor like motion, but Will jumped out of the way of the attack just in time.

'What kind ability is this? Not even my Entropic Warding invocation can stop a solid weapon, with the exception of arrows. But arrows are small and light and a sword is much heavier and has all my strength behind it, so how can these shadows block it?' Will wondered, while trying to figure out a way around this strange defense this warrior was using.

Will's opponent was not going to give the redhead time to figure out though and charged forward with amazing speed. This raw speed and powers, along with the shadows swirling about the person, kept Will on the defense.

Will did not even have time to cast spells, not that any of them would probably help against that shadow defense. The only Will could think of that might help, would be eldritch blast but was unsure if even that would help.

'It's worth a try at least,' Will concluded and used her Hideous Blow to channel her eldritch blast into her sword, before swinging it at her attacker. The shadows blocked the blade, but the eldritch energy that covered her sword flowed off it and through the shadow defense.

The small energy wave then cut Will's attacker across the chest, breaking the warrior's strange stance and putting a stop to the shadows. This allowed Will to go the offense and keep the warrior from performing the ability again.

The warrior unfortunately had other tricks up his or her sleeve and the second Will charged forward, her attacker dropped the two short swords, grabbed Will's arm and threw the redhead judo style, ten feet away, towards a near by wall.

As Will hit the wall and tried to recover, her opponent had picked up his or her weapons and was marching Will's prone form. The warrior readied their weapons to strike the final blow, when Will quickly shot her own blade upwards and pointed it at the warrior's throat.

"Check mate you je…aaahhh!" Will started to say, but then like her friend had experiences earlier, the stone floor opened up beneath them and sent the two combatants falling down to a lower level of the maze.

They slid down a long smooth stone ramp for what seemed like an eternity, until both combatants fell into a large pool of water. When Will emerged back to the surface of the water, she noticed they were in a large round chamber, with this pool being in the center of it.

Will then quickly swam to stone walkway that surrounded the pool and climbed out. Will's opponent was doing the same and was soaking wet, it took a bit longer for the person climbed out

Will's opponent removed their cloak while saying, "That's much better. How about we finish this, buddy? I got a few hundred more opponents to hunt down after I'm done with you."

This was Will realize it was a girl from both the sound of the person voice and now being able to see her opponent more clearly, now that the cloak was removed. The girl had light brown hair and seemed a bit smaller with out the cloak, since it had been partially hiding her size.

"Got no complaints about finishing this now, so I can go back and hopefully find my dinner!" Will shot back, as she took off her own cloak and through it aside. She was annoyed that her bread and water were back where this fight had started.

Will knew she would get more food tomorrow and there obviously plenty of water here, but the redhead was hungry and wanted food now!

"You want dinner, do you? I'll happily oblige you, by sending you back to the surface!" The brown haired girl countered and charged Will with both short swords ready for battle.

As the two charged on another and locked blades again, the new girl realized who she fighting and jumped back.

'I did not think I find Wilhelmina Vandom so soon. I was hoping to face her after testing my strength against a few others, but too late to stop, now I guess,' the girl thought and got in a defensive stance.

Will was confused by this sudden change in strategy, but she was not going to complain. It gave her the chance to go back on the attack, but this time Will watched out got anymore attempts from this girl to counter with a throwing technique.

The fight continued like this for a good while, until both fighters were exhausted and were breathing heavily. Neither one could gain an advantage their battle, if Will tried to use her spells or invocations, this unknown girl would stop her and if the girl used her strange fighting attack methods, Will would focus on defense until she found an new opening to exploit.

Will found this girl very difficult to predict, even with her training in Soaring Dance. One moment her opponent was using shadows to fight, then she fought like a beast and then all of sudden she would fight in a manner that seemed to use Will's own movements against her.

'How is she doing it? It's like she has three different styles and keeps switching them to suite the situation,' Will wondered as she tried to catcher breath, then saw the girl sheath her weapons and say, "Why don't we call a truce and rest for a minute, Lady Vandom. I still have my loaf of bread and would share it with you, if you agree."

Will was unsure if it was a good idea to trust this girl, but she knew if she kept fighting on an empty stomach, she would probably pass out and nodded her head in agreement.

Both girls sat down and the brown haired took out the breach, which was a special cloth bag used by adventures to keep things dry, even if they were to fall in water. After splitting the loaf in half Will her portion, the girl also took out a water skin and took a sip.

"Pretty well prepared for this, aren't you? Probably should take notes for next year," Will commented as she took a bite of her bread and sip of the water when it was offered to her.

"Yeah, my family has taken part of the games for years, so I had lots of advice on what to do to prepare for the Labyrinth. Was surprised I found you so soon, Lady Vandom. I wanted to test my skills against the only know three Class Gifted and the one who defeated Tony Vandom, but I thought it would be until after I found a few other opponents first," the girl replied, then went back eating as well.

Will was surprised by this girl's tone as she spoke. This still unknown person spoke to her with a level of respect, instead of having hidden hatred or fear in their voice. The girl also kept referring to her as Lady Vandom, something no one did.

"Why do you keep calling me that? I know I'm the daughter of a Royal Knight, but…" Will started to ask, but the girl cut her off.

"Unlike most people, I judge people by their actions, not their race or class. That is something my mother made sure I learned well during my training to be a Swordsage. Besides, it is bad manners to address a member of a noble family in anything other then Lord or Lady, unless a person has permission to address them differently," the girl told Will, then stuck the last of her bread in her mouth.

"Well, you have my permission to call me Will. Being called 'Lady Vandom' feels weird. Now…can I please know your name? The only thing weirder then being called Lady Vandom is that everyone one knows who I am before I know who they are!" Will asked, getting small laugh from the Swordsage. What ever that was.

"That's the down side to being famous Lady Van… I mean Will. My name is Alchemy Mc…" the girl started to say, when both Will and Alchemy heard the sound of shifting stone.

Both girls saw portions of the wall moving out wards to look like stairs and a stone slab at the top of these new steps, slide aside to give provide an exit to the room.

"Mom said this place was weird when it came to shifting around, but you would think the exit would already be here when this blasted maze drops you into a room," Alchemy said in an annoyed tone and got nod of agreement from Will, who was eating the last of her meal.

As Will got up and prepared to get back into a fighting stance, Alchemy asked, "Will, how would like to extend our truce until near the end the Labyrinth? Together, we could handle anything down here and when we find the medal chamber, we can finish our match there."

"Why would you need my help?" a confused Will replied, trying to figure if this was part of a strategy to make her lower her guard or if Alchemy was being honest in her request.

"Well, one is because I know more about you and how you fight, while Swordsages like me are rare in Meridian and that means you most likely don't know much about how we fight. I want remove that advantage and have fair match. The other reason is we would both have someone on watch while we sleep. In this place, a safe place to sleep is rare at best and I for one would not mind having someone watching my back when I'm catching a few Zs," Alchemy explained and waited to hear Will's response.

Will thought about for moment, trying to weigh her options. It seemed like Alchemy was being honest and it did seem like a good idea to learn about what a Swordsage was and what they could do. The fact that the idea of being able to sleep, without worrying about being attacked was a plus as well.

Will then held out her hand and said, "Let's do it." With that the two shook hands and made plans to stay in this chamber for the night. The room was easily defendable because of the only way in was the hole in the ceiling and the door at the top of the stairs, so the two of them knew it would be good to wait here until morning.

They also knew they needed time to let their still soaking wet clothes dry off, since walking around wet would be uncomfortable.

000

A few hours later, Will was asleep, while her new friend Alchemy kept an eye out for possible attacker. She was also using this time to think things over, mainly the secret reason why she wanted Will to team up with her. To try and make up for what her family had done to Will.

'If Will knew my grandfather is Irving McDohl, she would probably think I was as bad as him. I need to prove myself to Will and hope once she finds out who I am, she will see that at least my part of the family is nothing like him,' Alchemy though, while praying that it would a while before her new friend found out the truth.

000

AN: And there you go. Please let me know what you thought. The next one should be up within a week, but since it has more then ten thousand words, Cassidy might need more time work on it.


	19. The Labyrinth: Part 2

AN: Hi guys here the newest chapter of Shunned One up. We can once again thank Cassidy the Water Sage for beta reading this chapter. Could not have gotten this one out with out her help.

Would also like to thanks the following people for reviewing the last chapter: Sakura is number 1, Nelo Akuma, DayDreamer9, lost prince, shocklance, yellow 14, Starwin, Darev, The Crazy Talk Kid, Philip Gipson, Sergio Dumbledore.

BIG NOTICE: Nelo Akuma has started a fic called 'Child of twisted Destiny' that was inspired by this story. Please check it out in the M rated section of the W.I.T.C.H. category.

Now of with the fic!

000

Arc 2: Return of the Exiled Prince

Chapter 5: The Labyrinth: Part 2

The next morning, after Will and Alchemy ate the bread their armbands created for them, they went back to searching for the center of the Labyrinth.

During this time, Alchemy explained a little about Swordsages to Will. They were a type of warrior that combined ki with the weapons training, to create special fighting techniques that seemed almost mystical in nature.

Alchemy had demonstrated some of those during the battle yesterday, when she had shadows swirling around her and even when she threw Will into the wall. The Swordsage arts broke down into two basic categories, stances and maneuvers, which were broken down further into different fighting styles.

Each of these styles would give a Swordsage a wide assortment of different moves to use and could easily choose the one that suited the situation.

Stances were self-explanatory, where the user would get into a stance that channeled their ki to create a certain effect.

Maneuvers, on the other hand, were the special attacks a Swordsage would use to attack their foes.

Alchemy practiced stances and maneuvers from three of these fighting styles. Setting Sun, which was a styled that focused around countering attacks, and Shadow Hand, which used attacks that used shadows and even the cold to fight almost like a Rouge would. The final style was one that uses high speed and leaps to strike like a wild beast and bring an enemy down.

Will was surprised that such fight styles were virtually unknown to pretty much everyone, but Alchemy explained that Swordsages originated in the lands to the east, past even the Dark Lands. Because of the distance and the fact Alchemy's mother is the only Swordsage to ever travel to Meridian, not many would know of them.

Will wondered if Yan Lin knew of these Swordsages then, since she was from the lands to the east. The redhead made mental note to ask the old woman about it, after she got out of the Labyrinth.

The two had yet to encounter any of the other competitors, but the day had only just begun and anything could happen at a moments notice. The two girls knew they had to be on guard, especially for more trap doors or sliding walls. The last thing Will and Alchemy wanted was to risk getting separated.

'I wonder how the others are doing? I hope none of them have been sent out of the Labyrinth,' Will silently prayed, not knowing some of them were not having as quite a time as her right now.

000

Irma was on the run, after being separated from Aldarn, during a series of walls shifts. In her attempt to find her way through this maze one her own, Irma ran into Kurt and Clubber and it had kept the Arcane Hunter on the run ever since.

Fighting both boys at once was suicide, but it seems Irma was not going to have much choice in the matter. The two boys were able to keep right on Irma's tail, despite wearing such heavy armor.

'Got to lose those creeps, but how? They stick to me more than glue!' Irma screamed in her mind and she went around a corner. As Irma ran down the new corridor, she heard the familiar clicking down of a trap being triggered and jumped just in time to avoid what would taken her out of the contest.

Steams of fire shot out of holes in the wall, which reminded Irma of the in the Goblin infested ruins. Too bad for Irma, she did not have much time to figure out which spots trigger the firetraps to activate, not with Kurt and Clubber now coming around the corner as well.

Knowing it was choice between an unfair fight and being burnt to a crisp, Irma chose to take her chances with the flames that shot out of the walls.

It was only thanks to her Rouge skills that Irma made it through the barrage of fire blasts, thanks to her evasion training. She was able to duck, dodge or flip of the streams of fire that came her way, as she ran through deadly gauntlet.

Kurt and Clubber, on the other hand, just glaring at Irma in annoyance. They were not the smartest people around, but they knew they would not be as lucky if they tried to get to the other side of the trap.

"Ha! Try and get me now, you morons! I dare you!" Irma called over to the two boys, thinking she was safe, until another familiar voice spoke up from behind Irma.

"How about I take that dare!" Irma heard the voice say, leaving barely enough time to used her double-bladed sword to block the blade of the newcomer.

Irma then pushed the blade away and spun around to see it was none other the Uriah, who looked like he was getting ready face off against the Arcane Hunter, while his two lackeys cheered Uriah on from the far side of the trap filled hallway.

Irma knew she was at disadvantage right now, but not because her skills were weaker then Uriah's. In any other location, Irma would be on fairly even ground against the orange haired boy, but right now she caught between him and the traps behind her.

'Not much I can do about it, though. Might as well try and force Uriah back and try and push around the corner. If I can do that, I can have more room to move,' Irma thought, as she started working on plan to even the odd and prayed Uriah did not try to use magic anytime soon.

After Irma was in her stance, Uriah struck first, hoping to force the humorous tomboy to take a step back and set of the traps again, but Irma block the swing and started to push Uriah back.

"Oh no you don't! I'm not letting you get away that easily!" Uriah growled, as he dug in his heals and started pushing back. He was going make sure the friend of the girl who had caused him so much trouble was burnt to a crisp.

Both Uriah and Irma kept their weapons locked, as one tried to push the other back. Irma seemed to hold the advantage still, because of her greater focus, physical conditioning, and being much more stubborn then Uriah. It also helped she hated Uriah Dunn for he had done to make Will's life as miserable as possible.

"Alright, Uriah…let's see how…you like…playing with fire!" Irma managed to grunt out, before she managed to relent just enough to Uriah's pushes, to throw him off balance and slipped past him. This also caused him to fall forwards and land ground, his chin hitting one of the triggers that activated the firetraps.

One of the streams of fire hit Uriah's hair and lit it on fire, making him quickly get back to his feet and dance around like an idiot while trying to put it out.

Irma took advantage of this situation to slip away and go back to searching the Labyrinth, while Uriah continued doing his fire dance.

000

Meanwhile, Taranee, Hay Lin and Elyon had met up, but not in a way anyone would have liked. The trio had come across each other in large room, along with about twelve other contestants. This meant of course, a free-for-all began and spells and weapons clashed to see who would walk out of this chamber in one piece.

To make matters worse, the noise attracted others to the chamber and added even more fuel to the fire. The three friends were watching each other's back, but large number of targets to fight was putting a strain on the three magic users' reserves.

Taranee had been throwing fireballs left and right, Elyon using every spell she knew from both her classes to both attack the enemies and heal her friends and Hay Lin did what she could with own spells and Rouge skills, but it was not looking good for the trio.

"Not the way I wanted to be taken out of the contest, but at least we can try to take as many of them as possible before we go," Elyon said and got a nodded of agreement from her two friends and then they continued to fight with what left of their strength.

Since those present realized the three girls were the ones causing the most damage at the moment, so they started converge on the trio. Elyon, Taranee and Hay Lin thought was it, when arrows and fireballs rained down the group getting ready to rush the three spell casters.

"All of you picking on three girls? That must take real courage!" everyone heard Caleb's voice call out and made those in the room see both Caleb and Aldarn standing in one of the doorways to the chamber.

"Don't be hard them, Caleb. Weaklings only act honorably when they are winning, not when three 'measly' girls are destroying them all with ease," Aldarn added to Caleb's comment. This angered the mob and all began charging the two boys, not realizing they fell into the trap Caleb and Aldarn had set.

Even with though there were a lot of them, and that Elyon Taranee and Hay Lin were worn out, it was easy for the five to catch the remaining opponents in a pincer attack. The girls opened fire on the mob from behind with low level spells, while Caleb and Aldarn with more fireballs and arrows.

By the time it was all over, the mob was quickly defeat and now there were less people to probably challenge later in the contest, but also left Caleb low on magic and rest of the group who could use it, out of magic entirely.

"At times like this, I envy you, Aldarn. You are the only one here who does rely on magic," Elyon said while trying to catch her breath from the exhausting battle. Of course, she was confused by Caleb and Aldarn's chuckling after she said that.

"Oh, he can use magic, just not lots of it. After I found him in his search to find Irma, he told me about his training for the games. It seems he has not only learned to access his ranger spells at last, he also took a basic Warmage training course. He decided to join the Arcane Archer ranks and needed basic arcane magic training to qualify," Caleb explained, making the three girls stare at Aldarn.

'He is already dangerous with a bow, and he plans augment that skill to be even more powerful!' all three girls screamed in their minds at the same time. They knew Arcane Archers were the elite of the Elvin race's archers. The skill of these deadly marksmen was what made the elves skill with the bow legendary!

While the trio gawked at Aldarn, both he and Caleb just laughed and the signaled them to follow. The two boys knew their friends needed a safe place to rest until their magic reserves replenished themselves.

000

Back with Cornelia, she had left Matt and Nigel after dealing with Bess. She wanted to be able to deal fight Will without Matt interfering, but the blonde did not tell Matt that of course.

Cornelia knew if the Bard found out she was hunting the redheaded half-elf, Matt would try to stop and that was something she did not Matt Olsen doing.

'If I'm lucky, Nigel will get tempted to eliminate Matt from the contest altogether. I did not like how he was fighting with MY Caleb in the melee tournament. I would have done it myself, but I cannot risk getting defeated before I find Will,' Cornelia thought as she headed down a set of stone steps, with Snowflake following close behind.

As she reached the bottom of the steps ran into none other then Uriah, who had somehow managed to put out his hair from when Irma pushed him into the firetrap.

The second Uriah realized he was face to face with yet another of Will Vandom's friends, Uriah let out an angry growl and drew his sword.

"If can't make country girl pay for what she did, I'll just settle for you, Hale!" Uriah roared and slashed at Cornelia, but the blonde Druid blocked the blade with one end of her staff, while drawing her scimitar with her other hand.

"I assume Irma is the reason for your new look then, Dunn," Cornelia asked with big grin on her face, noticing the badly burnt remains of his once spiky orange hair.

Uriah did not respond and instead continued his attack, but Cornelia's newly gained Sword and Staff fighting style was proving very affective against Uriah. With the staff to defend and her scimitar to attack, Uriah was being beaten badly. It did not help that Cornelia would often make use of her feet as well, kicking at Uriah when Cornelia saw an opening.

Snowflake was not going to sit back and watch its mistress fight though and let out furious roar, before charging at Uriah. This made the formally orange-headed boy run, while Cornelia called out for her partner to come back.

The tiger did not listen though, as both it and Uriah triggered another trap. A pit filled with spikes opened up beneath them and Cornelia watched as both Uriah and Snowflake get teleported back to the surface, just before they hit the spikes.

Cornelia was distraught her animal companion was gone, but after a few minutes the blonde shook it off and took comfort Snowflake was just back above ground and probably would be getting a nice steak once the rest of her family found out the big white cat had returned.

000

Nigel and Matt also had a run with old 'friends' when they came across Kurt and Clubber. The two buffoons were in search of a way around the trap so they could team up with their 'boss' but found the Bard and Barbarian instead.

Kurt was quick to try and get even with Matt for beating him in the melee tournament, but Matt managed to dodge the warrior's massive axe in time, as it struck the ground where the Bard once stood.

"Get back here, Olsen! I'll destroy you this time!" Kurt roared as he chased after Matt, who had no intentions of doing as the larger boy said. Matt knew he needed to get some distance and use his magic on Kurt. Either that or wait for an opening to strike his own weapon.

Nigel, on the other hand, was going head to head with Clubber. As they were both a pure warrior types, neither boy would have it any other way.

It was hard to tell which boy was the stronger one though, since both classes had a different discipline. It was the pure instinct and self-taught fighting art of a Barbarian VS the constant instruction of the Fighter.

Clubber swung his large hammer at Nigel, aiming for his opponent's ribs, but the young Barbarian stepped back the blow struck the wall. The blow was so strong it made good size indent in the wall's stony surface.

"Not bad power behind that swing, just one problem. I can do better!" Nigel said with a smirk at first, but then went deadly serious, as he called on his rage to enhance his strength and stamina.

This kept Clubber on the defensive, doing his best to try and block or dodge the incoming blows, but it was not working out so well. Nigel's Orc Double Axe was hammering away at Clubber's armor, which was taking heavy damage.

If Clubber had been wearing anything less the full plate right now, he would have been defeated and sent back to the surface long ago. It was only a matter of time before Nigel won, unless Clubber managed to get back on the attack, but that was looking very unlikely.

000

Back with Matt, he was still trying to get some distance from Kurt, but the larger boy was sticking to him like glue. Fortunately, Matt knew all he needed was a few seconds to do his spell, but the only trick was to get those much-needed seconds.

'I've got only one choice. Just hope I'm fast enough to pull it off,' Matt thought just as Kurt swung his great axe in a downward arc, giving Matt his opening to try his plan.

Matt first did a back flip to avoid the blow, then when the large axe hit the ground, Matt charged forward and flipped over Kurt and the quickly reached for the lute on his back and plays a few tunes. Kurt was turning around to try and strike again, but then found himself unable to move for some reason.

"Don't you just love Hold Person spells? They're perfect for holding big idiots still while I finish them off!" Matt said as place his lute down and then drew his sword. With Kurt unable to move, Matt could take careful aim to land a finishing blow and now worrying about Kurt's armor getting in the way.

Second later, Kurt disappeared in a flash of light and Matt sheathed his sword and picked up his lute again. Just as he did, Matt saw another flash of light out of the corner of his eye and Matt looked over to Clubber was gone and Nigel ending his rage.

"Well, that was easy. Guess we better get…" Nigel started to say, when a wall shot straight up between the two boys. The maze had once gain shifted cut the two off form on another, making both boys wonder if this bloody place was alive and shifted only when it made someone's life much harder.

000

Over the next three days, Will and Alchemy had run into a few people, but the two girls made short work of them. With Will's half-elf hearing and eyesight, it gave the two a key advantage in seeing or hearing people before those people saw them. This allowed Will and Alchemy time to find a location ideal to gain an early advantage in a fight.

Alchemy had also contributed her share in these fights as well. With her special fighting moves, Alchemy was able to take down opponents as quickly as Will could, if not faster.

The two girls had grown to be good friends during this time as well. Alchemy had been still making sure Will had yet to found out whom her grandfather was. It did help matters that Will had yet to ask, but the young Swordsage knew she could not keep it a secret forever.

'I have to tell Will before we have our fight. If I wait until we are back on the surface, someone else might tell her and Will might think I was only using her,' Alchemy mentally told herself, while the two approached a strange stonewall with the symbol of Kord, the god of athletes on it.

"What do you think this is?" Will asked, trying to figure out why the symbol for the god of strength was on the wall. Alchemy shrugged her shoulder and started to try and think of theory as well, until an idea came to her.

"Will…I think we are finally here! The next time the labyrinth shifts, this stone wall will move out of the way and lead to the medal chamber!" Alchemy exclaimed excitedly, which shocked the redheaded half-elf for moment.

"You mean…we made it? I don't believe it! My first time in the Youth Games, and I can at least see the end of this maze!" Will said happily, which confused her new friend.

"What do you mean by 'at least see the end of the maze'? We got to be the first here if…oh…I forgot. We are supposed to…" Alchemy started to ask, then remembered that even if people helped one another in this contest, they would have to fight each other eventually if they wanted to be the one to claim one of the medals.

After moment of silence between them, Alchemy decided she needed to confess to Will about who she was related to, but was stopped by the sound of shifting stone. Both girls looked to see the stonewall lowing into the ground reveal a massive circular chamber, with a pillar in the middle of the room.

A spiral staircase led up to the top of the pillar, where the two girls assumed where the three medals would be located.

"Why don't we go look at what we are fighting for before we have our battle?" Will suggested, wanting putting the coming fight for as long as possible.

Alchemy nodded her head in agreement, knowing it gave her further time to gather the courage to tell Will the truth and so the two made the long walk of the spiral staircase.

It took a good ten minutes for Will and Alchemy to reach the top the stairs and see the three medal of the contest. Each was on a small stand, the gold medal having the middle stand, the silver being to the gold's right and the bronze being to the gold's left.

After another long silence went on between the girls, before Will slowly drew her sword and said in a sad tone, "Well, let's get this over with."

"Wait, Will, there is something I need to tell you about my grandfather…" Alchemy started to say, when a stone brick hit the ground and made the two jump back in surprise. They thought it might have been a trap or another competitor wait to attack, but then saw a rope drop down from the ceiling and watch a Passling slide down.

"Blunk finally find it! Pretty medals make good trade!" the Passling exclaimed and jumped on the gold medal's stand, not noticing the two girls.

'Blunk? Why does that that name sound so…what! The Passling me and the others saved at the ruins!' Will thought, while Alchemy shouted out, "Get away from those medals, you little thief!"

Blunk fell off the stand when he heard the shout, the gold medal in his hand. Had Blunk been wearing one of the armbands for the contest, he would have teleported back to surface. But it was clear the Passling was not apart of the contest if he was still here, while holding one of the medals.

The Passling looked nervously at the two girls, until he recognized Will and said, "Warlock! You here to trade for pretty medal? Blunk give good deal, since you help save Blunk from mean creatures."

The innocent way the Passling talked clearly indicated he did not think he was doing anything wrong by taking the medal, something Will could understand from her past dealing with many other Passlings, but Alchemy was another matter entirely.

"We don't trade for those medals, we fight for them! Now put it back before I skin you alive, you little troll!" Alchemy screamed and then dove at Blunk, with her two short swords raised to strike.

Blunk let out a terrified scream and ran for his life, which really was in jeopardy since the protective spells in the labyrinth did not apply to those without an armband.

"Looks like we don't have to fight each other after all, Alchemy. We just chase after Blunk until one of gets the medal from him instead of trying to kill each other!" Will said and started chasing after the Passling, with Alchemy in hot pursuit.

'I got to stop Will! If she gets the medal before I tell her the truth, she might find out who I am when she gets back to the surface!' Alchemy screamed in her mind, while she tried to catch up with both Will and Blunk.

000

"I swear, if I have to have one more meal of bread and water, I'm going to go insane!" Irma grumbled, while kept looking for the medal chamber. Good thing for the young Arcane Hunter, she was actually just about to enter it, as Blunk and Will were about to exit it.

"Ah!" Irma yelped, as jumped straight up to avoid the Passling and then just barely managed to avoid be run over by Will.

"Hi Irma! Bye Irma! See you back on the surface after I get the medal from Blunk!" Will called back as she ran past, leaving the now confused Irma behind.

'Did she say what I thought she said?' Irma mentally asked herself, when someone tried to shove past her, but Irma grabbed the person through flung it back into the chamber.

"Watch it, buddy or I'll…YOU!" Irma started to say, then Irma realized it was Alchemy she tried to push past her.

Unlike Will, the young Arcane Hunter knew whom Alchemy was related to. To Irma, this meant the granddaughter of the Irvine McDohl was just a mini female clone of the well known half-elf hater and Irma was going to take care of the girl here and now.

"Trying to attack my friend while her back is turned, huh? Not on my watch!" Irma roared out as she drew her double bladed sword and launched herself at Alchemy.

The young Swordsage barely drew her two short swords in time to block the blow, but she somehow managed was now trying hold the angry girl off.

"You don't understand, I…" Alchemy started to say, but Irma started a series of rapid thrust of her sword, making the Swordsage need to focus in avoid or deflect the attacks.

"Oh, I understand perfectly well. You wanted to attack Will!" Irma screamed out, and then tried a side slash aimed at Alchemy's chest.

The other girl was able to dodge it by doing a back flip, but as Alchemy landed, Irma stepped forward slashed downward at Alchemy's head. This made Alchemy bring her two short swords up in a scissor like shape and block the blow, but the blow was very strong and forced the young Swordsage to her knees.

'Not good, can't use my stances or maneuvers in the position,' Alchemy thought, while she struggled to against Irma's brute strength.

000

Back with Will, she continued pursue Blunk. She even fired a couple of eldritch blasts at Blunk in hopes of slowing him down. Will made sure to pull the blasts, since Blunk would be killed by a normal one…assuming one of theme could actually shot him!

The small green creature lacked in size and overall land speed, but he made up with incredible agility and an instinct to avoid things he could not see. This helped Blunk avoid several pitfall traps in the hallway they were currently in, along with Will's attacks.

Normally these traps would have kept the Passling's pursuer at bay while he escaped, but Will's Spider Walk invocation allowed her run along the wall and avoid these traps and stay on Blunk's tail.

"Blunk, just give up the medal and I'll stop chasing you!" Will called out, hoping the Passling would drop said object, but it seemed Blunk was too scared out of mind to hear anything right now.

After another ten minutes of chasing the Passling through the maze and Will chasing said Passling into another one of the many large chambers in the Labyrinth, Blunk was suddenly captured by several small vines that grew out of the stony floor.

This reminded Will of what Cornelia did back in the ruins and made the redhead draw her sword and scan around the room. Will was quickly rewarded with the sight of the blond entering the room from another entrance, her own weapons drawn as well.

"So, looks like I'm going to have to fight for gold medal after all," Will said in a friendly tone, thinking this would be nothing more then a simple match between friends. What Will had yet to realize, was that Cornelia was seeing this as a way to prove her superiority and get Caleb to see her as a better match than Will.

'Sorry, Will, but all's fair in love and war!' Cornelia roared in her mind and charged forward at the redhead. Just as she got close, Cornelia jumped into the air and performed a tornado kick that connected with Will's face and knocked her to the ground.

As Cornelia set foot back on the stone floor and readying to deliver a finishing blow, Will reacted out of instinct and cast the Magic Missile spell.

Because of Will's great advancing skills in magic and having her mother teaching her the little tricks to a spell, Will could create three pure energy projectiles while only casting the spell once.

Will hand shot upward and three small balls of energy shot of out of her palm and struck the blond druid. The first hit Cornelia in the chin, the second on the right side of her face, and the final one hit her on the forehead.

Cornelia dropped both her scimitar and staff and covered her face with her hands, giving Will time to recover and get back to her feat. It was not long break though, since while Will was using sword for support to get up, when Cornelia also recovered and kicked at the blade.

The blond Druid's foot hit the flat side the blade and knocked it away from Will's grasp. As the sword skidded several feet away, Will wobbled around a bit, but kept her balance nonetheless.

"How dare you shoot my face!" Cornelia screamed out in fury. She was always very self-conscious about her appearance and jeopardizing that appearance was bad idea, even when you are not already on her hit list.

Will was getting very scared of her friend right now, since the blond was abnormally aggressive. Of course, at the moment Will assumed this was out desire to get the gold medal from the tied up Passling. Had the redhead known this about Caleb, the same drive win might very well rise up in the half-elf as well.

But this was not the case, since right now Will was running away from an enraged Cornelia, who had created scimitar of pure flame and used it to attack the redhead.

'Mom told me the competition could get intense bit I did not think it was as bad as she said until now!' Will mentally screamed, as she quickly cast the Lighting Sword spell and gave herself a weapon to fend off Cornelia's Flame Scimitar.

As the two elemental blades clashed, Will asked in a concerned tone, "What wrong, Cornelia? I know winning this contest is important. And I did accidentally hit you in the face with my spell, but don't you think you are over reacting a little bit?!"

Cornelia did not respond and just continued to brutally swing at Will with fiery weapon. This made Will focus on defense, trying to find off these attacks, but Will was still shaken by the unusual fighting style on her friend's part.

Eventually, Cornelia brought the fight to the next level and cast spell called Ice Lance, which fired large icicles at Will, which would impaled the redhead had she not barely got out of the way in time.

The fact that said icicle punched a hole right through the wall the wall only made Will even more scared of the spell.

'I really hope the protections spells work against that if Cornelia get one of those to hit me,' Will thought, just before Cornelia casts more spells, Will was all too familiar with a Flaming Sphere spell.

"This day just keeps getting better and better," Will grumbled, while did the same as she against Uriah's Flaming Sphere during their spell dual, run for her life!

Meanwhile, Cornelia was feeling almost completely satisfied on how things were going. She had Will on the run, but the blond haired Druid was wishing Caleb was here to see how much more powerful she was compared to Will.

'Well, I'll just have to settle for just claiming the gold medal as proof that I'm stronger. Sorry, Will, but I won't let you have him!' Cornelia thought, as she guided her rolling ball of burning death after Will.

Of course, Cornelia was so confident that she was going to win this battle, she did not take into account of what new abilities Will may have gained over the last few months. This made the blond Druid very shocked to see Will run towards a near by wall and use her Spider Walk invocation run up its smooth surface, until she was out of reach of Cornelia's Flaming Sphere.

"That was too close," Will said under her breath, once she was out of reach of the spell, then looked down Cornelia, thinking now would be good time figure out why her friend was fighting like she was possessed by demon.

"Hey, Cornelia! I know winning the contest is big deal, but don't you think you are going a bit overboard?!" Will called down, think the two could have short heart to heart before going back to their battle, but Cornelia had other ideas.

The noble blooded Druid's response was to cast the Produce Flame spell and start taking shots at Will, who was now deciding that talking was not going to work until after this fight was settled.

"If that how you want to play, Corny, then let's play!" Will shouted out and let end her Lighting blade spell.

Will then powered of an eldritch blast in each hand, while Cornelia growled at Will's use of Irma's favorite nickname to use on the blond.

Both then let's loose their attacks, Will's pinkish red eldritch blasts VS Cornelia's stream of fire made by her Produce Flame spell.

Will would run along the wall, firing her attacks, while Cornelia would duck or dodge the beams and fire back her spell. This left scorches marks all over the chamber and kept going until Will's advantage of having virtually limitless Warlock power to draw upon, while Cornelia slowly ran out of magic.

As both her hands stopped producing fire blasts and her Flame Scimitar disappeared from lack of further mystic energy to keep it going, Cornelia cursed her foolishness at firing of spells carelessly.

'I let her trick me into using up all my power! Now she can just keep shooting at me with her eldritch blasts or even her normal spells until she wins!' the young Druid screamed in her mind, but then realized something and looked towards Blunk.

'But Will is all the way is up there and the smelly little creature with the medal is tied up over there. If I grab it, I'll win and be declared winner of the Youth Games and Caleb will see me as the better choice!' Cornelia silently schemed and was about make run for where Blunk was, when she a loud 'thump' behind her.

Cornelia spun around to see Will had actually jumped all the way back down to the chamber floor and was now clutching her arm for some strange reason.

At first, Cornelia thought Will had somehow hurt her during the fight, but that did not make sense to the noble blooded Druid, but when Cornelia saw spark of lighting starting to crackle in one of Will's hand, Cornelia quickly realized what was going on.

"Let's end this with a bang, Cornelia! With my mom's own creation, the Lighting Blade!" Will said with a triumphant smirk on her face, while Cornelia shook with fear.

"When did you get strong enough to use that spell?!" Cornelia asked in a terrified tone, wondering what kind of training Will had gone through to be able to be able to cast a third level spell so soon.

"After a small…incident that made my mom a 'little' upset with me, she used my training for the games as punishment. Let me tell you, Mom can be a real slave driver when she wants to be!" Will responded, wishing she could tell Cornelia that her mini adventure to find Kor was the reason she had become so strong.

Of course, Will had decided to be very careful the next time she was tempted to go off on her own and that reason was a darn good one. Another month of training like hers had been, and Will knew she would probably die from exhaustion!

'Can't argue with the results though. Now I can use both the Lighting Blade and the Eldritch Blade attacks and if I ever decided to learn the Eldritch Lighting Blade, I can,' Will thought, just before she finally charged forward.

Cornelia did not have time to even realize what was happening, when she was saved by the Labyrinth's protective spells and cent back to the surface before Will's attack struck.

"Finally, that fight's over" Will said with a happy sigh and then looked over to where Blunk was still hogged tined by vines. The Passling was still trying to break free as Will picked up her sword and suggested, "How about I help you get freed, Blunk, and you give me the medal?"

The Passling was quickly to agree to the 'Trade' and Will cut him loose. Then as Will took the medal, she was just lifting it to eyes level, when she was teleported out the Labyrinth and into a large room that looked like bottom floor of an inn.

The whole room looked on in shock at the sight the Champion of the Labyrinth, or at least most did. One particular occupant of the room and swiftly ran over to Will and pulled the young redhead into a hug.

"M-Mom?" a confused Will asked in a small stutter, still bit surprised at where she ended up after claiming her prize.

"Will…I can't believe it. You actually won!" Will heard her mother say proudly, making the realization hit Will. Even when taking the medal from Blunk, Will had not realized she had won the hardest contest in all the games. The fact it was her first time made the feat all the much more overwhelming.

This caused to just faint her mother's embrace, scaring Susan a bit since she thought Will might be hurt.

It took Sade, Serenity and Will's old friends from Trader's Central to calm the woman down. Once they succeeded, Susan took Will up to one of the inns spare rooms and allowed Will to rest until the last two winners of the Labyrinth showed up.

000

Back with Irma and Alchemy, the two were still in a deadlock, when their armbands started glowing with golden light. This was supposed to be a sign to all remaining contestants that one medal had claimed and now only two more remained.

'I need to get away from this girl and grab the silver fast! I don't get back the surface soon, someone might tell Will who I am before I can tell her myself!' Alchemy thought and then drew on all her strength to push Irma away.

The young Swordsage did this with such force, that Irma stumbled backwards and allowed Alchemy to make a run for the spiral staircase that led to the remaining two medals.

Irma had not given up though and was chasing after her opponent. She chased Alchemy all the way to the top of the stone steps and then jumped into the air. Irma flipped over other girl and blocked Alchemy path to the medals.

"Oh no, you don't! The only way you are leaving this place is by me cutting you down!" Irma growled out and started a series of slashes that were meant to drive Alchemy back towards the stairs. Irma wanted to keep the other girl as far away from the medals as possible, in case the young Swordsage made another attempts to claim one.

Alchemy was too stubborn though and refused to be driven back by the Arcane Hunter. If Alchemy had to beat this girl to get back to above ground, then she would, even if it was one of Will's friends.

This led to a deadly dance between the two combatants. It was hard fighting on such limited space, since the top of this tower was at best, a twenty-five foot circle with nothing to stop a person who was pushed over the edge to falling all the way back to the floor below.

Seeing how this tower about three stories tall, it probably take the one who fell of, out of the contest, so this was defiantly a dangerous spot to have a swordfight. Not that either warrior cared at the moment.

The battle grew even more intense when Alchemy finally brought out the big guns, her specials stances and maneuvers. The Alchemy used the stance she used against Will when they first met, which created swirling shadows around her.

This stance was actually called Child of Shadow and it required Alchemy to keep moving for it to stay active, which was hard in such a limited fighting space, but the young Swordsage was confident she could manage to avoid being cornered or slowed down too much.

With this stance it made it hard for Irma to land a blow, now that the shadows kept blocking her sword strikes.

'What the heck is going on?!' Irma roared in her mind, being as ignorant of what Alchemy's abilities were, like Will had been before the young Swordsage explained it.

With her Child of Shadow stance, Alchemy began to gain complete control the fight. Irma was too confused and angry to even think of strategy or to try and find the weakness in Alchemy's technique.

After dragging the fight out long enough to exhaust Irma, both physically and mentally, Alchemy moved in for the kill. The young Swordsage forced Irma back with a powerful push, then used a used a maneuver called Rapid Wolf Strike to charge forward and strike her opponent down.

Since Irma was dangerously close the edge of the small fighting space they were on, it left Irma unable to defend against Alchemy's fast and furious attack and was sent back to the surface before her opponent's attack landed.

Too bad for Alchemy, she had moved to fast with her charge and fell over the edge and onto a portion of the stone staircase below. The young girl's bad luck did not end there, since she lost her grip on her two short swords, which fell even further down the tower, all the way to bottom.

While Alchemy let out a groan of pain, from her fall she thought to herself, 'Glad no one else is here or I would be in trouble.'

Too bad for the young Swordsage, she had jinx herself upon thinking these words and heard a furious voice cry out, "I'll make you pay for that!"

Alchemy looked up to see to see it was Hay Lin who screamed out those words and that was with a good portion of her friends. Caleb, Aldarn, Taranee and Elyon were still with the petite girl and were looking equally furious.

"Whose up for extending the truce until we pay her back for taking out Irma? We can settle who gets the last two medals after words," Caleb suggested coldly, getting nods of agreement from all those present, while Alchemy gulped nervously.

'What god or gods did I offended to have this much bad luck in such a short amount of time?' a very worried/annoyed Alchemy though, just before was forced to back flip off the stairs to avoid Hay Lin's twin daggers.

Alchemy then used a special trick that she knew from her Swordsage training, which allowed her to stick to walls like Will's Spider Walk invocation. Unfortunately Taranee and Elyon knew the spell version of the same trick, and quickly followed after Alchemy, while the others ran down the stone steps to catch her as well.

The only thing that was saving Alchemy right now was the fact she was very quick and a skilled dodger of attacks. This allowed her to avoid spells and arrows fired at her, but the young Swordsage knew she could not hold out for long against such number. Not with out her weapons and a lot of luck.

By the time Alchemy reached the bottom of the tower, she had taken a Scorching Ray to the back of her right shoulder and a few magic missile hits all over her back.

'Great, it just my luck the ones trying 'avenge' Irma had to be mostly magic users!' Alchemy thought sarcastically, while she dove her weapons.

The gang of friends in hot pursuit of her though, were not going to let her retrieve them so easily. They continued to fire what ever that had at Alchemy, hoping to take her out before she could rearm herself.

Lighting bolts, fireballs and other such spells rained down at Alchemy's location and if not for the fact that Swordsages were just could at evading wide area effect spells as rouges were, the young Swordsage would have been a goner by now.

Just as Alchemy was finally able picked up her two swords, she was attacked by Hay Lin. Since Hay Lin was using daggers though, it gave Alchemy a small advantage in reach. Her short swords were not that long of course, but it still helped the Swordsage hold the Rouge/Wizard off.

But this advantage was quickly ended when Caleb jumped into the fray. With Hay Lin on one side and Caleb on the other, it was becoming difficult for Alchemy to do anything but defend at the moment. The only good news was that as long as these two were fighting her, Alchemy was sure she was safe from further magic attacks since the magic users would not want to hit their friends.

This was true for Elyon and Taranee, but not for another newcomer that was entering the room.

Matt came running when he head all the noise of battle up ahead and was now seeing the one person he wanted to fight was in this very room.

'Lets see how you like this Caleb!' Matt thought, as he readied his lute and then quickly strummed the cords. This created a sound wave spell called Sound Burst, to hit not just Caleb, but Hay Lin and Alchemy as well!

"Ah!" all three combatants scream as the got blasted, while Elyon and Taranee looked shocked at Matt's reckless attack. Aldarn on the other hand was furious, since Caleb was his best friend and Hay Lin was a friend of the whole group.

"Olsen, you will pay for that!" Aldarn roared out and grabbed three arrows from quiver. He fired all three arrows at the same time; all heading straight for Matt, but the Bard was ready for them.

Matt unleashed a second Sound Burst towards Aldarn, which not only blasted the elvin Ranger, but destroyed the three arrows as well. But unlike when Caleb, Hay Lin and Alchemy got hit by the Sound Burst, Aldarn was hurt even more because of the stronger sense of hearing elves possessed.

Aldarn fell to his knees and clutch his now bleeding ears, while Elyon quickly ran to his side. Taranee was unsure what to do, since Matt was someone she would normally see as a friend, but a now recovered Caleb did know what to do.

After seeing Aldarn get blasted by Matt's spell, Caleb charged at the other boy and swung his sword downward at the Bard.

Matt stepped back enough to avoid the swing, but the sword still cut right through Matt's lute, rendering it useless. Matt quickly drew his own sword and the two boys began round two of their battle.

Taranee knew that if Caleb has recovered from Matt's first attack, then Alchemy must have as well, so the dark skinned Wizard turned to the Swordsage and fired a bolt of lightning at her.

Unfortunately, Alchemy saw it coming, dove out of the way, and to make matters worse, Hay Lin had been right behind Alchemy getting ready to strike, so the lighting bolt struck her instead.

This caused Hay Lin to be sent to the surface, since the Taranee's spell was just that powerful. This also left Taranee wide open to a counter attack, since she was too shocked at realizing that she took out her friend instead of Alchemy.

Said girl was now charging towards the defenseless wizard, hoping to taker her down before Taranee started casting more spells. Unfortunately, Elyon had healed Aldarn and he was now diving at Alchemy with his long sword ready for battle.

Normally Aldarn preferred range combat, but he did not want to risk hitting allies right now and so opted to use his other weapon to deal the Swordsage. Elyon also dove into melee combat range as well.

Alchemy quickly entered her Child of the Shadows stance and used the shadow defense to help fend of the attacks. Unfortunately, with two people attacks and Elyon using the True Strike spell to help negate Alchemy's defense, the Swordsage was getting hit a few times by Elyon's staff.

To make matters worse, Taranee finally recovered from the shock of blasting Hay Lin and was joining Aldarn and Elyon in their assault.

Taranee needed to rely even more on the True Strike spell than Elyon did, since Elyon was better in close range combat then the dark skinned Wizard, but the trio were slowly wearing down Alchemy.

'No choice, better trying a different stance and go on the attack!' Alchemy concluded and entered what was called the, 'Leaping Dragon Stance'. In this stance, Alchemy could jump much higher than normal and thus could jump over her attacks and get out the partially surrounded situation she was in.

Alchemy landed right behind Aldarn and entered yet another stance called Assassin's Stance, which allowed her to strike with deadly accuracy. The ranger disappeared with a flash of light, just as the young Swordsage thrust both her blades forward, taking him out the battle and leaving only Elyon and Taranee to deal with.

"Okay, now how about we stop with the team ups and have one on ones now like we are supposed to be having? This is the Labyrinth event, not the gang up on the Swordsage event!" Alchemy exclaimed in an annoyed tone, since she had to deal with wave after wave of 'avengers'.

"How about we just blast your butt through the wall!" Taranee shot back and then both she and Elyon started firing lighting bolts at Alchemy.

The young warrior did what she could to dodge them, but the fight was badly uneven. Eventually a bolt hit Alchemy in the chest and sent her flying into a nearby wall. The two spellcasters moved to finish the other girl off, but Alchemy still had a few tricks up her sleeve.

Alchemy used a technique called Shadow Garrote to cover her blades in black energy and then in a whipping motion, send the black energy out like a rope towards Elyon and Taranee.

The energy wrapped their necks, but before it could start to choke the two magic users like the move was meant to do, they disappeared in the same way Aldarn had.

"Finally! Maybe now I can get a medal and see Will before her friend tell her about me," Alchemy exclaimed and slowly made her way back towards the staircase that would take her to what she was looking for.

000

Back with Caleb and Matt, it was getting to be difficult battle for the Bard. Caleb was now able to use his vast number of combat spells, unlike when they fought in the melee tournament, which made it hard for Matt to fight on equal ground now.

Of course Matt was still able to make things very difficult for Caleb as well. By casting a Slow spell on Caleb and a Haste spell on himself, Matt gained an advantage that kept him in the fight since he was able to move out of the way of lighting bolts and fireballs in time.

Both boys were running out of magic though and knew they could not keep this up for long. Just as Matt's speed altering spells wore off on both boys, Caleb looked up to so Alchemy was making her way of the spiral staircase that led to the where the silver and bronze medals were.

Matt's gaze followed Caleb's and both boys' minds came to the same conclusion, they had to beat Alchemy to the silver medal.

Both started running at the same time, but Matt used the last of his magic to recast a Haste spell on himself, so he could catch up with Alchemy and leave Caleb in the dust.

"See you at the winner stand, Caleb!" Matt called back, sounding little cocky with his newly gained advantage, not knowing the Warmage had some tricks to pull as well.

Caleb took out a potion his mother gave him before he entered the contest. It was a potion that would allow him to fly for a short amount of time, but that would be all he needed, since he could just fly strait to the top of the tower.

As Caleb took off though, he did not see Nigel now entering the large chamber and see all three the other competitors head for the top of the tower.

"Looks like I made it just in time. Wonder if Taranee was the one to get the gold medal?" Nigel wondered aloud, before taking off for the staircase with as much speed as he could muster. This was actually pretty fast, since Barbadians had a knack for cover a large amount of ground in a short amount of time.

000

Caleb and Alchemy were the first to the top, but Alchemy was the first to attack. She entered her Leaping Dragon Stance and dove at Caleb, both weapons ready to strike, but Caleb blocked them with his sword.

Just the two broke apart from their weapons lock, Matt came up the stairs, looking shocked at Caleb being here and wide open to the kick Alchemy sent at him, The kick hit Matt square on the chin and sent rolling down the stair and heading towards Nigel.

Nigel jumped over Matt's tumbling body and charged forward to push past Caleb and Alchemy so he could grab a medal before the other two could.

Both warriors prevent this by both attacking Nigel at the same time and made the Barbarian enter his raging state and raised his Orc Double Axe to block the incoming swords.

Nigel then tried to push both Caleb and Alchemy over the edge of the tower, but the two pushed back and were somehow able to keep the match even. This was when Matt finally returned and decided to help push Caleb and Alchemy over the edge.

Caleb and Alchemy saw this though and with one last push, threw Nigel off balance enough for them to move out of the way and allowed Matt to push Nigel of the tower instead.

"Oh crud!" Nigel called out as went flying off the tower and was sent back to the surface just before his hit the ground floor of the large room.

Matt was soon to follow, since Alchemy kicked him off the tower again, while the noble blooded Bard was off balance, leaving only her and Caleb to claim the medals. This was of course; one of them did not defeat the other before claiming the silver medal.

Both were too worn out to actually fight one another though and so both just dove for the medals. What shocked Caleb during this was that Alchemy just went after the closer medal, which was the bronze, instead of the silver. They both grabbed their medal at the same time and were teleported away to the same inn as Will was sent to.

The crowd gathered in the tavern of the inm clapped in celebration of the two's achievement and Sade approached them and said, "Well done, you two, especially you Caleb. I'm certain Will will be glad to hear one of her friends won as well and beside her during tomorrow official announcement of the winners."

This made Alchemy quickly look up and ask, "Your highness, where is Will? There was something important I was trying to tell her before we got separated."

Sade was a bit surprised by the genuine concern in the young McDohl's voice, but only because she was used to dealing with her grandfather. Sade had to remind herself that unlike the current head the McDohl family, the apples that were his son and his granddaughter fell very far from the tree.

"She is resting right now, Alchemy. I'll be sure to tell her you want to speak with…" Sade started to reply, when said grandfather of Alchemy step out for amongst the crowed of the tavern and interrupted the Queen.

"What ever it is you which to say, you will stay away from that filth, Alchemy! She will only use her dark power on you if you get close to her!" Lord McDohl stated firmly, but then started to cower when Queen Sade turned her gaze on him.

"Be silent, Lord McDohl or there will be consequences," Sade commanded and then turned back to face the two young champions.

"Now, both of you of find your parents. I'm certain they will be eager to hear about your achievement. I would suggest the medical tent, since parents know that will be where their children will most likely end up during the final event," Sade instructed.

Both Caleb and Alchemy did as they were told, though Alchemy was nervous to go to said place. A lot of people she sent there just a few moments ago and they were not going to be happy to see her probably.

'Hopefully I can work things out with Will's friends. It would make it easier if they did not think I was a threat to Will, before I actually tell her who my grandfather is.'

000

AN: There you got guys, hope you liked it. Not sure when the next chapter will be up, since I'm planning on working Trials of a mother Guardian for a while (been too long since I updated it)


	20. Youth Games End, New Journey Begins

AN: Sorry for the wait guys, work, on and off writer's block and looking for a new beta reader that delayed this update for the last few months.

I would like to thank the following people who review last chapter: deadpeace6868, Yuna Neko, koenvanderplas, Kitsune6, fergnerd, Baran3, Sakura is number 1, Sky, .xx, Gameblaster12, Starwin, DayDreamer9, Greki, Darev, shocklance, Philip Gipson, yellow 14, The Crazy Talk Kid, lost prince, and Nelo Akuma

Would also like to thank Ima for beta reading this fic

Now that we have that done, please enjoy the newest chapter of Shunned One!

000

Arc 2: Return of the Exiled Prince

Chapter 6: Youth Games End, New Journey Begins

Caleb and Alchemy silently headed for the medical tent, since Alchemy was intimidated by the older boy, who still saw her as an enemy because she was the granddaughter of Irvine McDohl.

The only thing that kept a second round of combat from occurring; was the fact Caleb knew it would reflect badly on his family for pointlessly attacking member of another noble family.

'If it's this bad with just one of Will's friends, what will it be like with all of them in the same spot?' Alchemy worriedly thought, as they entered the medical tent to see their 'fallen' friends and their families.

Upon entering, a few of the defeated Labyrinth competitors noticed the medals in Caleb and Alchemy's hands, causing whispers to fill the tent. Both victors knew this would mean they would soon have many new rivals. The top three finalists of the Labyrinth event was the example of what skill level was needed to be bested, if any of them wanted to win next year.

'To make matters worse, this means I have to look forward to both regular duels AND spell duels for the next few months,' Caleb mentally groaned, knowing his status as both a warrior and a magic user left him wide open to both types of challenges.

Meanwhile, Alchemy was having bigger concerns with the glares she was getting from a certain group on the far side of the room. All of Will's friends were in the same mindset as Caleb, the one that said 'Alchemy McDohl is the enemy'.

The only two people missing from the group were Matt Olsen and Cornelia Hale, but all the ones Alchemy fought were still present, but at least the good news was she could try to explain everything all at once.

"Where are Cornelia and Olsen?" Caleb asked the group, making it clear he was still not on good terms with the noble blooded Bard, since the fight between them went to a new extreme in the last battle. The two friends had never uses such power in past matches, but then again, neither had been rivals for the heart of the same girl before.

"We are assuming they are in one of the other tents. We all ended up here and have not gotten permission to leave yet to go look for them," Elyon answered Caleb, but did not take her eyes of Alchemy.

'This is not going to be easy,' Alchemy grumbled in her mind, before trying to convince Will's friends that she was on their side, not her grandfather's.

"Um…I think there has been a slight misunderstanding for my intentions towards a mutual friend," Alchemy started to say, but then had Irma cut her off.

"And how did we end up sharing a friend with a McDohl?" The Arcane Hunter asked in a sour tone, the feeling was clearly shared the others as well.

"Despite what you think, I assure you I'm nothing like my grandfather. Will and I are friends; we fought alongside one another for most of the final event. I admit I…kept my last name a secret, but I swear I never had any intention of harming Will. At worse, Will and I would have fought for the gold medal if that Passling had not stolen it, that's it in terms of 'harming' Will," Alchemy explained, but to her dismay, it seemed to not win much trust from Will's friends.

"You're asking us to believe a lot Ms. McDohl. You're Grandfather is under heavy suspicion of violating several laws my mother placed to protect Half-Elves, we just don't have proof. I admit you're father, mother or yourself has done nothing to earn this reputation, but have also yet to give anyone proof you nothing like the head of your family either. The fact you admit you hid your connection to your grandfather does not help your case," Elyon stated firmly, followed by firm nods from the others present.

Alchemy had to admit Princess Elyon had a point and it was not unexpected that Will's friends were going to be VERY cautious when it came to a McDohl, but the young Swordsage was dead set on proving herself to these people that her Grandfather's beliefs did not represent the whole family.

"I admit, I still have much to do to prove that to you all. All I ask is for the chance to prove to you all that my grandfather's ways are not my own," Alchemy requested in a humble, knowing it was one thing many did not expect from McDohl. It was a know traits many of her family had not had until her father and now her. All others before them might have been at least decent people, but even those ones had a bit of arrogance in their personalities.

This one act finally gave the youngest member of the McDohls a chance among the people before her. They did not trust her yet, but she at least appeared to be honest with the request and was well in her right to have the opportunity to show she was going to live up to her word.

"Well, if you want a place to start, you can tell Will who you are. Then we might have reason to trust you," Elyon told the young McDohl, who nodded her head agreement and replied, "That was always my intention…now I just need to hope I can speak to her before the awards ceremony."

The group seemed satisfied for the moment with this agreement, since the now could see how Will would react to this information, but even with this issues resolved, most knew there was still others to be dealt; mainly with Matt and Cornelia.

000

In a neighboring tent, Cornelia was silently fuming in her cot, as she kept replaying the battle between herself and Will in her head.

Will had won through stamina, patience and timing; something of which Cornelia was embarrassed about, since all she did was keep firing away until her magic ran dry. It also did not help she was beaten by a spell that made Susan Vandom famous among elite warriors and magic users alike.

The common person or magic user did not know about the Lighting Blade, because Susan did not flaunt the powerful spell, but those few who did knew about the spell knew it was as difficult attack to learn as it was powerful. Not just anyone could learn, this was proven when many tried to replicate the attack and failed.

'Until now, only Will's mother and Tony Vandom could wield that power, but now that attack is at Will's disposal. Even with the one who created it teaching her, Will would have still would have needed skill and talent to have learned it so soon…how can I prove myself more worthy of Caleb against that kind of ability?!' Cornelia screamed in her mind, not noticing her family and animal companion approaching her cot.

"There's our little champion!" Cornelia's father said in a cheerful tone, making Cornelia jump a bit since she had heard her family come up.

After her small 'heart attack' Cornelia's face gained frown though at being called a 'champion' since she did not even get the bronze medal. Will and her newly gained Lightning Blade spell saw to that.

"I'm no champion dad. I lost my fight," Cornelia said in a depressed tone, which made Snowflake move into to nuzzle her mistress in a comforting manner. This action was returned by Cornelia, while her mother sat down next to her on the cot.

"Don't worry Cornelia; you'll do better next year. You're very skilled for your age, but you know full well you could not win against the older contestant. The fact you lasted so far into the..." Elizabeth started to say to her daughter, in hopes of making feel better, but Cornelia shook her head slowly and started speaking in soft and depressed voice.

"I did not lose to an older opponent; I lost to Will while we fought for the gold medal," Cornelia said as she kept scratching Snowflake's ears. This news shocked Cornelia parents, since that had not thought their daughter would even find her great 'rival' in the Labyrinth, let alone be facing her in a duel for the ultimate prize of the games.

Lillian's reaction to the news was a bit more interesting though, "Can you get me Will's autograph then?!"

This made Cornelia stare at her little sister like she grew a second head, their mother giggling at the her youngest child's request and their father groaning at this because he knew Lillian be rubbing salt in Cornelia wounded pride by wanting the signature of the one who beat her older sister a short while ago.

000

Across the medical tent, Matt sat silently as he tried to collect his thoughts on what happened in the Labyrinth. Because of his actions, it made him glad only Cornelia was in the same tent as him, since almost all the other would have probably tried to kill him for how he acted.

'Caleb was supposed to be my target, not the others…but I just went after everyone in there. As long as I got to Caleb I did not care who got hurt. I need to get my focus back or I could lose Will to Caleb because I kept hurting the others,' Matt mentally told himself, but then noticed a shadow was being cast over him.

Matt looked up to see a powerfully built man with grayish-blue eyes and long silver hair that was done up in a pony tail. He wore red dragon scale half-plate armor and carried a bastard sword like Caleb, so Matt originally thought this unknown person was some kind of warrior, until he noticed the lute on the stranger's back.

'Usually only a bard would carry a lute, so why is this man who seems more like a warrior bother to learn to use it, let alone carry one?' Matt wondered, as the stranger began to speak.

"Hello young Olsen, I was watching you're progress throughout the games and I must say I'm impressed. Though you did seem a bit…out of control, when fighting the Russell boy, you did still show considerable skill in both the melee tournament and the Labyrinth," The mysteries man said to Matt, who winced at being reminded of his recent actions, until the young Olsen realized something.

"There is no way you could have seen what happened during the final event! Only a select few are permeated to do so and those are the ones who are chosen insure nothing happens to the contestants and the…" Matt stated firmly, bit stopped realized what this man's job was.

The mystery man grinned at Matt sudden silence. After few moment of waiting to insure the young man had a chance to absorbing the information from his realization, the man spoke up, "I see you figured it out. You have realized I'm a scout for my group. To be specific, I'm with a group who trains new War Chanters, Bards who give up growth in Bard spells for great skill with a blade and learn special songs that enhance allies or hinder foes in battle. We wish to offer you the opportunity to learn our ways and grow into a more powerful warrior."

Hearing this left Matt speechless, he had not been expecting an elite group of Bard like warriors to offer him more advanced, even though was one of the biggest reasons to compete in the games to begin with.

"Why choose me though? I'm sure there are other Bards more…level headed then I have been lately," Matt asked, thinking there must be some kind of mistake since most groups who have scouts for new talent tend be picky on who they offer training to.

"There might have been level headed Bards here today, but you showed far greater skill. Besides, young men rarely think clearly when it comes to girls," The War Chanter explained with a grin on his face, making clear he had already knew Matt and Caleb were competing for a certain redheaded half-elf.

Matt blushed a little form embarrassment, but shook it off as he said, "I'll need to discuss your offer with my parents before I can give you answer. Would that be alright?"

The War Chanter replied with a nod of his head and told him how to contact him once Matt's decision had been made.

As Matt was left alone once again, he completed how this would affect his life should be trained by the War Chanters. It seemed they would greatly increase his skills as a warrior and give him access to more powerful songs, both of which would make him more suited to fight Caleb, should they compete against each other again.

'Plus most training offers to take the new student away from home for a while so to get the basics done quickly. That will give me some time to cool off and hopefully for the others as well from after that little…incident,' Matt concluded in his mind, knowing he had to get that training.

He did not think his parents would be against it though, they would probably glad he got such an offer. The only thing against such training is that would be put slightly behind in the academic studies that a school would offer, but Matt did not see that being too hard to work out something his family when he saw them next.

000

A few hours later, Will was slowly waking up from her fainting spell. She slowly opened her eyes to find herself in an inn's guest room. Her mother and Serenity sat on either side of the bed, while Kor in his dormouse shape lay on Will's chest.

"I really need to break this habit," Will grumbled groggily, referring to continued habit of passing out and waking up in a bed.

The sound of Will's voice drew the attention of the three in the room. Serenity and Kor was as calm as ever, since they knew Will had been tired and overwhelmed by winning the Labyrinth, but Will's mother was still a 'little' jumpy.

"Will! How are feeling? Does anything hurt? Do you…" Susan asked continuously. Like any other mother, she got overexcited when something happened to her 'baby girl'.

Will, who was still half-asleep, did not know how to answer her mother's barrage of questions and so just remained in a stunned state. This made Serenity step in and try and calm her partner down, before she had a heart attack.

"Susan, calm down or I'll be forced to change back to my true form and make you settle down," Serenity told her partner, which made Susan shoot a glare at her familiar.

"And you would be any different if Kor was the one who passed out in front of you?" Susan shot back, while Will just looked back forth between the two women.

"Um…what's going on? The last thing I remembering is getting hugged by mom about something and then everything went black," Will asked, her memories foggy from still being partially asleep.

Susan looked back at her daughter and smiled while picking certain gold medal the redhead had won a few hours ago.

"You fainted shortly after appearing in the inn once you won this. I thought you might have been hurt so I…panicked a little," Susan explained, looking a little sheepish at the last part, while both Serenity and Kor rolled their eyes. Both knew the dark haired elf did more than a 'little' panicking once Will fainted.

Susan ignored this though and opted for focusing her attention on Will, who was starting to recall everything that happened down in the Labyrinth.

"Now I remember…did Alchemy get the silver medal? We both arrived in the medal chamber at the same time, but lost track of her when Blunk broke in the Labyrinth and stole the gold medal. I can't see her not getting the silver unless she followed after Blunk and me and did not get back to the chamber in time to get one of the others," Will asked, hoping Alchemy still placed well in the final event.

The redhead knew it was thanks to the young Swordsage that the gold medal was now hers and hoped Alchemy would at least be one of the other winners of the Labyrinth.

Had Sade not informed Susan of Alchemy knowing Will earlier and Elyon passing on a message that Will knew nothing about the Swordsage's family; the Elvin woman might have been worried that her daughter had met the granddaughter of Irvine McDohl.

Susan had no problem with Alchemy, but was worried how Will would react to finding out her new friend was related to a man that had often tried to harm her in some way.

Of course, Susan knew Will was hardly the type to think one member of the family made up the whole family's belief, but it was also not a stretch to see the redhead being worried the other girl might have only pretending to be friend. The Grumper sisters had demonstrated such tactics to Will after all, so Will might assume the same of Alchemy.

"She won bronze from what I heard. She probably would have had silver if not for Caleb grabbing it first," Susan answered her daughter, keeping the secret of both Alchemy's heritage and some of the small pieces of the fight that happened in the medal chamber.

Susan had not heard exact details, but from what people had told her, it get very chaotic in there, with some sort of mix up between Alchemy and the bulk of Will's friends and the fact Caleb and Matt a free-for-all style rematch.

'Between paranoid friends and two boys fighting over her, I don't think Will would react well to what little I heard,' Susan concluded in her mind, as she watched will let out a relived sigh at hearing Alchemy got one of the medals.

"That's good to hear. Do you know where she is? I want to thank her again for all her help down there," Will asked, hoping she could find her new friend before the final ceremony of the Youth Games.

"I'm afraid not, she is probably getting ready for this evening anyway, since she is one of the champions of the final event. This of course means you need to get ready as well Will and we only have a few hours to do it in," Susan informed her daughter, who went pale at hearing this.

Will knew 'get ready' meant get cleaned and dressed up, so she could be the center of attention. Between having to wear a dress and being of the 'guests of honor' Will was regretting not letting Cornelia win their battle.

'Wonder what my odds of finding places to hide until the closing ceremonies are over?' Will grumbled in her mind, as her mother gently dragged her out of bed to get ready for the coming evening.

000

A few hours later, Will was cleaned up and dressed in the same dress she wore at her birthday party. Of course, Will had resisted the idea of attending the closing ceremonies in hopes of not having a repeat of what happened at said party, but her mother kept insisting things would be different tonight.

Of course, Susan had made sure to remind Will that unlike the previous time, Kor would be with her (in dormouse form) and the fact Will now knew to be a little more careful of strangers. Though it was mainly the idea of Kor being with her that made Will feel more confident.

'Kind of nice to know giant fire breathing lizard has my back…even if he is restricted to appearing to be a harmless creature,' Will mentally told herself, hoping she could drive away the nervousness that still plagued her.

It had a small effect of course, but not quite enough for the redhead's liking. This is why Susan was starting to feel worried as well, since she could not think of other ways to encourage her daughter enough to help her last the evening.

'Well, maybe Caleb and Alchemy will make it easier for her, since they will be with her for at least the start of the evening...still hard to imagine my daughter is close friends with the granddaughter of Irvine McDohl. Wonder how Will will react to hearing about Alchemy's family?' Susan though, as she lead her daughter to where the night's celebration would take place.

Because it was tradition for the three champions of the Labyrinth to only appear after they 'officially' get their medals, so the winners wait in the back area of a stage made for the awards ceremony until called out by Sade.

Upon arrive at said destination, Susan gave her daughter a kiss on the forehead and told her everything would be alright as one final attempt to calm her daughter's nerves, before heading out to where everyone one else was gather for official announcement of the final event's winners.

Shortly after Will arrived backstage, so did Caleb and Alchemy, much to Will's relief to have friendly company right now.

Like Will, they were dressed for the special occasion. Caleb wore armor over his torso with the emblem of his family on the front, black pants and boots. His sword was at his side rather than its traditional spot on his back.

Alchemy wore a dark blue medieval style dress and seemed as nervous as Will, though for a different reason then the redheaded half-elf.

'Guess now is my chance…though I wish I had been born to a different family line right now,' Alchemy thought, as she tried to gather the courage to finally tell Will the truth before someone else did.

Of course, Will was not making it easy by running up and hugging both Alchemy and Caleb before Alchemy could even speak.

"You guys have no idea how glad I am to see you right now!" Will exclaim, as her two friends got caught in the bone crushing hug, both surprised the redhead was this strong.

"I think we have at least a rough idea Will," Alchemy managed to wheeze out, while Caleb chuckled at the young McDohl's struggle to speak. Caleb had been less affected by the hug because of being a little bigger, stronger and his armor absorbed some of the pressure, though he could still tell Will's nervous nature was probably giving her this unusually powerful grip.

'Can't say I blame Will, she has not exactly had the best track record in public areas. Good thing I can sling a Fireball spell now if anyone gets any 'bright' ideas tonight,' Caleb though, as Will finally released her two friends from the death grip she had been giving them.

"Sorry about that," Will apologized, a small blush coming across her face while her two friends just smiled right back and accepted it with a nod of their heads, but Will noticed Alchemy quickly looked like she struggling against something again.

"What's wrong Alchemy?" Will asked, wondering if it was more than the upcoming ceremony that was bugging the young Swordsage.

The redhead started to get even more worried for her newest friend when Alchemy's nervousness went to borderline fear, but Caleb cleared his voice and drew the half elf's attention to him.

"Alchemy has something she wants to tell you, but is unsure how you will react to hearing it. I would save her the trouble and tell you myself Will, but that might just make the situation worse for both of you," Caleb stated simply, mainly trying to paint the youngest member of the McDohl family into a corner and see if Alchemy had the guts to admit the truth about herself.

'If she is truly seeking Will's friendship, then she should know she can't hide her family from Will. Assuming Alchemy admits her heritage, then the others and myself might have some grounds to trust her,' Caleb though, as Will now looked back a forth between Caleb and Alchemy in confusion.

'Thanks a lot Russell! Why not make I even harder for me then it already was?!' Alchemy mentally screamed at the Warmage/Fighter, planning on making him pay once she was out of this mess.

"What are you talking about Ca..." Will started to ask, when the unwelcome sight of Irvine McDohl entered the waiting area and caused different reactions among the three champions of the Labyrinth.

Will was stepping back in fear, mainly out of reflex since until finding out the truth about herself; she had always been defenseless against this man and his underlings.

Alchemy was filled with dread, since she knew her grandfather would only be here for one reason, to have Will find out she was related to him in the worse possible way.

Caleb also knew the older McDohl was planning to do. But unlike Alchemy, he was filled more with anger, rather than dread for the man's soon coming underhanded tactics.

'If Alchemy is being completely truthful about being a friend to Will, then I can't let her grandfather ruin that friendship by telling Will who Alchemy is before Alchemy gets the courage to do it herself,' Caleb thought, while quickly approaching the older Warmage with a stern expression on his face.

"Lord McDohl, you know full well that with the closing ceremonies about to begin. You are not permitted back here. I suggest you leave now, or else I'll be forced to make you," Caleb stated firmly, in hopes of at least stalling the older noble until someone else came along and hopefully help make McDohl leave.

Unfortunately for Caleb, McDohl was not willing to back down and gave the younger noble a sneer before replying, "Watch your tone boy or have you forgotten that you're only a cadet Warmage, while I am a both a commander in rank and on the council that is in charge of all Warmages in this kingdom. One word from me and..."

"You'll do nothing," Alchemy cut in, her fearful expression changing to one of determination and resolve. The youngest member of the McDohl family might be scared of admitting she was related to the man before her, but she was not going to let him get away with ruining Caleb's career just because he stood up to the older Warmage.

'I'll sooner let Will know who I am in the worse possible manner, then let my Grandfather hurt one of Will's friends,' Alchemy thought, as she marched up to her grandfather and got right in face.

Much to Will and Caleb's surprise, Irvine McDohl actually stepped back when this happened, something he did not do often; especially not to a young girl half his size. The fact that it was his own granddaughter that was intimidating the old man, made it even more of a shocker (though Caleb was still the only one aware of this fact of course)

It only took a moment for the older McDohl to recover though and gave the youngest member of his family a furious glare ad growled out, "Watch you're tone with me child or I'll be forced punish you as well. Something that I'll have an even easier time doing then with Caleb Russell!"

"I find that highly unlikely grandfather, seeing how you'll need my parents' approval to make any sort of punishment stick. I on the other hand would have an easier time seeing you're abuse of authority over Caleb is punished. With my word combined with Caleb and Will's against your own, it would be easy, especially if Queen Sade were to get involved," Alchemy shot back, clearly shocking both her grandfather and Will at the same time.

Irvine was mainly caught off guard Alchemy's firm approach, since she rarely out spoke the head of the McDohl family. Will's reasons for being shocked were due to obvious fact she just heard her newest friend call one her biggest obstacles at being accepted her 'grandfather'.

'Well, that is one to way to admit the truth. Not the ideal way, but it could have been worse,' Caleb thought, while keeping an eye on Will's reaction in case she took in negatively.

"How dare you threaten..." Irvine McDohl started growl out and was even raising his hand to strike Alchemy, when a blast of pinkish-red energy struck the very hand he raised.

As the older McDohl howled out in pain, Alchemy and Caleb looked in the direction the blast came from and saw Will's hand raised and staring coldly at the older McDohl.

"Raise another hand towards one of my friends again and it will be a Lighting Blade, instead of an eldritch blast," Will stated coldly, her hand still glowing from the earlier shot.

While Will's two friends still looked on in shock, Irvine McDohl's look of pain quickly changed to one of furry. In his uninjured hand, a fireball quickly forms within its grasp, while the elderly Warmage roared out, "You will pay you filthy half-breed!"

Caleb and Alchemy were caught off guard by the older McDohl's use of the very common but powerful spell, while their half-elf friend frantically tried to think of a defense to such an attack.

Unfortunately at her current level, Will nothing that could stop such an attack and braced herself for a fiery demise by closing her eyes and raised her hands up in a futile attempt to guard against the spell.

By doing this, Will did not see the fireball vanish from existence as Irvine McDohl started throwing it, confusing those had not shut their eyes until a voice spoke out, "That will be quiet enough, Lord McDohl!"

The four occupants of the areas looked over to see Queen Sade standing near the current that separated the backstage from the where the crowed was gathering to see their Youth Games champions.

Irvine McDohl was the first recover from the shock of the queen appearing so suddenly and was about to try and turn this whole mess to be of some use to him, bur Sade cut him off before he could say anything.

"Don't you dare try and make you're self look innocent McDohl! I saw you getting ready to strike your granddaughter and heard you're 'comment' to Will. I don't know what this is all about, but I do know you have no business being back here so leave before I show you what spell I would have used if Will had not fired first!" the Queen ordered, making it clear the lord had lost this round.

As Irvine McDohl turned to leave, he considered using his injured hand as 'evidence' to use against Will. But then took into account he granddaughter was clearly on the redhead side at the moment, probably through some sort of bewitchment but still on the brat's side none the less.

'I'll just have to bide my time and see if I can get the half breed filth later. She has clearly bewitched my own granddaughter with her warlock powers, so I must hope my time to act will be soon,' the old lord thought as he left quickly, so to avoid the queen wrath.

000

Once Lord McDohl was gone, the Queen of Meridian turned to Will and said with a stern expression, "You should not use your eldritch blast like that. I know you meant well, but harming a lord is a serious offence. We are lucky Lord McDohl is not so brave when facing me personally and you had two witnesses Will or there would have been trouble."

These words made Will hang her head down a little, since she knew her use if her warlock powers on the older McDohl were well meant, but wrong. The only thing that probably kept Lord McDohl form pursuing legal action was the fact he was about to use deadly force and that the Queen herself witnessed it.

Will also was lucky the queen dispelled said attack before Lord McDohl threw it or they would not even be having this discussion. The old Warmage was much more powerful then Uriah, so it was highly likely Will would have been annulated by the fireball he was going to use.

Sade then told the trio it was time to go out and begin the ceremony. But just as Will heading out, Alchemy stopped her and mouthed the words 'Thank for helping'.

Will gave her friend a small smile, though was still inwardly dealing with the news of her newest friends was related to one of the people who made her early years miserable. Will did not hold Alchemy responsible for her grandfather's actions or anything like hat. It was just a big shocker that was not easy to let sink in.

Out on the front part of the stage, all those who came to watch the Youth Games were in attendance. A few of the people closest to the stage had small, hard to notice scowls on their faces when Will came into view, but the redhead was semi expecting as much.

The three champions were lined up behind Sade, who was at podium and getting ready to being her short speech to the gathered spectators.

"Lords, ladies and gentlefolk; I like to thank you for attending the 108th Youth Games. We have had many great matches this year during the small tournaments, but we can now finally reveal this year's true Youth Games champions!" Sad said aloud to the crowed, which had round of applauses by said people.

"Our first champion is the bronze medal winner and one of Meridian's few Swordsages, Alchemy McDohl!" Sade called out, which was once again followed by applause and a small amount of cheering from the more excited spectators.

Alchemy then stepped forward to be more clearly scene by the crowed, bowing he head slight in recognition of the praise and then turned back to the Queen, who now held the bronze medal in her hands.

Sade placed the medal back around the girl's neck and then watched the young Swordsage go back to her spot in the line-up.

"Next, our silver medal winner, Caleb Russell of the Junior Warmage Brigade," Sade called a second time, once again getting a great number of applauses as Sade placed the silver medal around Caleb's neck.

'Now for the fireworks,' Sade thought bitterly, knowing the second it was made official who the ultimate winner of the Youth Games, there was going be trouble. Even with a 'normal' child winning, there were a small number of those who objected to the winner of the gold medal and Will was hardly 'normal'.

"And last but not least, the gold medal winner and Champion of the Youth games, Wilhelmina Vandom!" Sadie announced to the gathered nobles and commoners and as expected, just as Will started to step forward, chaos erupted.

"Outrageous!" One voice roared out.

'She must have cheated!" Another voice yelled from the crowed.

"Get that thing off the stage!" a Third voice added in a furry.

Other insults, accusations and boos followed and left Will and those who supported her unsure what to do. Unfortunately for the crowed, the one who figured out a solution was probably the worse to face (with the exception of Will's mother) a certain gold dragon familiar that was still resting on Will's shoulder, keeping a low profile until this disgusting display happened.

Kor jumped down from Will's shoulder and changed back to his true form, causing the stage to crack and splinter under his weight, though it still seemed to support him…just barely.

Will, Sade, Caleb and Alchemy on the other hand barely managed to avoid getting hit by any of the young gold dragon's body parts as he grew in size from a small dormouse to a dragon that was a little bigger then a village hut and of course, Will was one of the few present that was not shocked and a little scared of a gold dragon appearing and letting out a thundering roar, followed by a short burst of flame being sent into the air.

'That was a dragon all this time!' All of Will's friends mentally screamed, while Susan and Serenity both were trying figure if they should thank the rebellious lizard or smack him upside the head later.

The rest of the crowed was ducking for cover or in the case of a few of the braver spell casters, were trying to dispel Kor, thinking he was an illusion, which only anger the raging beast even more and roar out, "I am no trick of the light you fools! I am this girl's familiar and you will shut up, sit down and show her some respect!"

People quickly obeyed the dragon's orders, though many guessed once the shock wore off, the new found 'respect' for Will would disappear, but at least Kor ended the insults for the time being.

000

After Will got her medal, she, her mother and their familiars (with Kor back in his dormouse form) sat quietly and watched the rest of the final festivities of the Youth Games, mostly because Susan could not think of a way to sneak them out early so they were forced to attend to the Champions' Feast.

"Next year, I'm losing on purpose…even if I do make it to the medal chamber again," Will grumbled, while her mother gave the young redhead a small chuckle and shook her head.

"In theory that is not a bad idea, but then you have to deal with those saying you did cheat or were lucky to win this time. If you do choose to compete next year, it would be best to try and win again…though given the spectacle the crowed and a certain rodent made; an early 'retirement' might be in order," Susan told her daughter, who was clearly resisting the urge let out a very un-lady like groan at this comment.

A few moments later, an elderly man in white wizard robes approached. The robes and the head of his staff had a symbol Will did not recognize, but Susan did.

This was man was of the Arcane Order and highly ranked one at that, probably one of its Regents, which made Susan wonder what such a figure would want with either Will or herself.

Susan had worked with the order many times in the past, but most of those time were either by chance or on official missions from Sade with its lesser members, so why one of the ones who sit on the guild's governing council would wish to see either of them?

"Good evening Lady Susan, Lady Wilhelmina. I am Alhazred of the Arcane Order and was wondering if I could have a moment of your time?" The ageing wizard asked, his tone making clear this was something official thus of great importance, but showed no signs of arrogance despite being of such high status in one of the biggest guilds in the land.

Will remained silent, since this was her mother's call and probably the only one who would understand everything that the wizard would ask.

Susan on the other hand was trying to figure out why said wizard wanted to speak with both herself and Will. Speaking with a Royal Knight is one matter; since it could be an official request of some kind, but Will had no real rank and it was doubtful the Arcane order would be seeking to gain a non wizard into their order.

'Might as well let him speak and maybe I'll be able out if he has some kind of hidden motives,' Susan mentally concluded and then nodded her head courteously to signal the aging wizard to make his request.

"Thank you, my ladies. My request is rather simple actually, I would like to ask for your daughter's assistance in helping one of our junior members on an errand we are giving her. We like to give assignments like this to them so they can put their skills to practical use and let them show the order their ability to handle missions they might be given." Alhazred explained, getting a confused looks by both Vandom women.

"Why would you need Will for this task if it's already handled by a member of your order? Especially when Will is only 13 and hardly adventuring age," Susan asked, feeling a bit uncomfortable of the thought of Will being away from home without her, like most mothers would be.

Alhazred gave the Elvin woman a reassuring smile before continuing his explanation, "It is for two reasons. The first is that we wish to simulate normal quest procedures, which would be one or more of our members teamed with outsiders of the order that round out the group. With our recent alliance with one of the Barbarian clans that gives our member one such person but we need at least two more to be a bit more close to the standard practice. Thus why I am hoping for your daughter's assistance in this matter."

"And the second reason?" Susan asked, still feeling a bit unsure of this idea, but wanted to get the whole picture before either denying the request if it was bad idea or letting Will choose if the 'mission' seemed safe enough.

"The second reason is…a more political reason I admit. As you know, some people are permitted to view battles waged in the Labyrinth. I was the one such person and I witnessed how Lady Wilhelmina battled Lady Cornelia and such potential would be of great help to the Order if she becomes a regular source of aid in later years, once she older and more able to handle true missions," Alhazred answered with hint of nervousness, knowing some did like these alliances guilds made with either clans of certain classes or powerful individuals.

Such alliances are viewed by some nobles and rival guilds as a form of arms racing, but instead seek out weapons in the traditional sense, it takes the form of people not bound by guild rules, thus can be the wild card a guild can play to gain an advantage.

Of course, only a few guilds seek this. Most, like the Arcane Order, merely wish to have powerful contacts that are just as good as hired adventures, but might be willing to work cheaply or if the friendship between the guild and contact is good, then possibly said person or persons might even give the Order a free helping hand.

'This is…an unexpected turn of events,' Susan thought, while trying to figure out what to say to Alhazred. She was unsure if it was a bad thing if Will gained a possible connection to a guild as big and influential as the Arcane Order.

On one hand, it would single Will out among rival guild of the Order, but on the other hand, it would give Will real life experience with her skills, since training alone was not going grant much more growth on its own anymore.

'But Will is still so young…' Susan once again told herself mentally, mainly in an attempt to give her a decent reason to turn the guild mage down, but could not fully convince herself of this option.

Will on the other hand, was about settle the issue with one innocent question that had been bugging her for a while since the conversation began. "Who is the member of your order and who else is part of the group?"

Both Susan and Alhazred turned to look at Will upon hearing this question; Susan mainly because she thought Will was just going to be quiet and watch like she normally did. Alhazred on the other hand was hoping this was a sign he might convince the older Vandom to accept the offer if the younger one was becoming so interested.

"You know them actually, Lady Wilhelmina. Apprentice Taranee and Nigel of the Barbarian Clan allied with us; make up two members of the group. Another member of my order is looking into the fourth person we wish to enlist. I had been hoping for one more your regular would be that member, but each for what I have heard has either turned down the offer for further training with family or other guild after mentioned to me they are approaching them for membership for special training in advanced classes. But once this fourth person is selected from our other option, my old student will contact you and your mother if both choose to accept the offer," Alhazred explained.

'So two of them are ones I know I can trust with Will…guess Will's question has given me decent reason to trust this request if genuine. So as long as I feel the other two are acceptable and the mission is not too dangerous or too long, I can leave Will to choose,' Susan concluded, and was about to ask who this student was, but was cut off by a new voice calling out.

"I thought I told you to wait until I talked to them you old coot!" The new voice stated and three looked over to see the familiar face of Zerase approaching them.

Alhazred looked mildly annoyed at the 'old coot' comment and shot back, "You should be more respectful to your old master Zerase!"

Upon hearing this, Will got confused since Zerase, though not exactly old yet, was still beginning to exit her prime in terms of youth. She would have expected a student of this old wizard to be in their late twenties to mid thirties, not mid forties like Zerase was.

Will began channeling her Warlock powers into her eyes to see if her ability to detect magic could find illusions either disguising Zerase age or if the older wizard might be of a race with a longer life span then human, which did not go unnoticed by any of the veteran magic users.

Alhazred burst out laughing since the same basic concept had happened many times in the past, so he knew what Will was doing. Zerase also knew what was going, but now it was her turned to look annoyed.

"Did I miss something?" Susan asked, in hopes of someone telling her the joke.

"It's nothing, anyway I got the other member you need 'Master'. Did you get Will or do I need to find you another recruit?" An irradiated Zerase asked, giving Will a look to stop her 'search' or she would make the redhead stop.

Will gulped loudly and quickly ended her detect magic attempt, while Alhazred answered his former student's question.

"They are still deciding Zerase, but at least you managed to get the Lady McDohl so even if both Lady Susan and Lady Wilhelmina turn us down, we have a decent group for the errand to Ironforge," Alhazred replied, which quickly made Susan look at this request negatively again.

"Ironforge…you mean one all the way to the east of the country? Near the Dark Lands? Are you joking!?" Susan said in a deadly serious tone. She was using every ounce of will power to keep from making a scene.

"I assure you Lady Susan the journey will be most safe. Ironforge is after all, the most secure city in the whole kingdom of Meridian and Zerase is going to be with them. Plus, do you think we would give the task to a rookie member if we believed it was not safe?" Alhazred told the over protective mother in a reassuring tone, hoping logic would help clam the powerful Royal Knight down.

Will meanwhile was shocked she was going to have the chance to visit Ironforge, one of the biggest cities in the kingdom of the dwarves. Will had never met a dwarf, even in Trader's Central, so she was eager to go on this trip with Taranee and the others.

'I even get to see Alchemy again, which would be nice. I still want to know more about her…maybe even ask her why her grandfather hates half-elves so much,' Will thought, while at the same time giving her mother a pleading look to allow her to go.

It only took minute for Susan to give into the begging expression on her daughter's face to cave in and ask, "When does she leave and how long will she be gone?"

"Please meet us at our guild in two weeks time for final preparations and the journey should take them no longer then two and a half weeks, it might even be less if weather stays calm and of the regular travel delays are minimal," The older Wizard answered, the travel delays referring to the rare monster attack or a patrol stopping groups for a short time if they were searching for a specific person or checking for contraband.

"Alright then, Will will be there at that time," Susan told Alhazred, then bid the two wizards farewell before looking back at Will.

"Well, looks like we have a reason to leave early now. You will want to be well rested for your first such trip…just don't think this will happen often Will, these things can be dangerous at times and you gave me enough heart attacks for one lifetime!" Susan said in a good natured tone, but Will could detect was serious about the comment at the same time.

"I know mom, but thanks for a least letting me go this time," Will said as e hugged her mother, before both got up and left the celebration area to head for home. Neither knew soon this small mission for the Arcane Order was merely the start of something that would shape Meridian history for years to come.

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AN: And there you go guys, probably not my best work since I admit I rushed a little to get it out and had to force the writing process so to overcome writer's block, but I hope it was still enjoyable.


	21. The Journey to Ironforge

AN: here is the next chapter of Shunned One and I would like to thank my new beta reader, Quiet Wyatt, for beta reading this one and also would like to thank the following people for reviewing last chapter: Rebunanta, fergnerd, DayDreamer9, Heart of the Demons, shocklance, yellow 14, ladygoddess8, Gameblaster12, Kitsune6 and Duncansshadow

Special Note: Also giving Starwin a big time thanks for helping me with a scene for this chapter, which was what held me in doing this update. Took me a while to rework the story Alchemy will be telling the group, but finally got it done. Thanks again Starwin!

Disclaimer: Do not own W.I.T.C.H. or D&D

Now on with the next chapter!

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Arc 2: Return of the Exiled Prince

Chapter 7: The Journey to Ironforge

Two weeks after the Youth Games, Will (with Kor in Dormouse form resting on her shoulder) and Susan were riding up to the Arcane Order's front gate so Will could meet up with Taranee and the others for the small mission the guild offered.

The guild was in the middle of the capital and was a very grand looking structure that was almost castle like in design.

'Wonder if most guilds have buildings like this?' Will pondered, since this was the first time she had actually seen a guild's headquarters.

Will did not have long to really think about such things though, since she quickly noticed

Taranee, Nigel and Alchemy waiting outside on the front steps of the main entrance. For some reason Zerase was not with them yet, but the young half-elf was sure the veteran wizard would arrive soon.

As the two Vandom women dismounted from their horses, Will's friends approached and greeted the half-elf.

"You have no idea how glad I was to hear you joined the group, Will! These two are scary and I needed the protection!" Alchemy joked, as she embraced her redheaded friend, secretly thinking it was true since Nigel and Taranee still did not fully trust her yet.

Said pair gave the Swordsage a mild glare, proving this fact, which made Will worried about this trip. They were a group, thus needed to trust each other for the mission to go smoothly.

Of course, Will knew this was a simple errand for the most part and thus the kind of teamwork she was thinking of was not needed; but since this was also a minor test for Taranee, Will thought the internal conflict might affect how she was judged in the end.

Susan was having the same thoughts as well, but was not as worried as Will; mainly because the older Vandom knew adventuring groups were not always made up of people who got along, but still worked together to achieve their objective.

There was silence for only a few moments, which was ended when the sound of a wagon and horses was heard coming closer.

The four soon to be adventures and the Elvin woman looked to see Zerase coming up in the large wagon, pulled by two powerfully built horses.

As the middle aged wizard got close, Will and Alchemy breathed a sigh of relief, since now Taranee and Nigel had something other than Alchemy to focus on for the moment.

"Good, you're all here and not trying to kill each other. We might have some hope that you'll actually work together and I won't have angry parents asking why I did not bring you all back in one piece!" Zerase joked; getting minor glares from all four 'adventures'.

"We might not trust Alchemy, but I highly doubt we would hurt her for that," Taranee stated, while Nigel grumbled something about how it would cause trouble for Will if they did.

Taranee elbowed the Barbarian for his comment, but Zerase rolled her eyes and signaled the group to get in the wagon, but Will was stopped by her mother.

"Before you go, Will, I have something for Kor," Susan told her daughter, and took what seemed like a simple black leather collar with markings along it, but Will noticed Kor's fur bristle at the sight of the object.

"Kor?" the confused redhead ask her disguised familiar, while Susan got ready to explain the collar's purpose.

"This, Will, is a special collar made for those among the Elves that gain Gold Dragon familiars. It's meant to keep the younger elves from relying on the dragon's power too much. Rather than letting them change back to their normal form from whatever their more subtle form is, it changes them into a preset creature that, while still strong, is nowhere near as unstoppable as their true form," Susan explained to her daughter, while Kor hissed furiously in his dormouse form.

'Well, guess that does explain Kor's reaction to the collar,' Will mentally concluded, know the young Gold Dragon was rather proud of his strength and would not like being limited in his ability to use it when he wanted to.

"The collar can be removed at any time, but you really shouldn't unless it's absolutely necessary, Will. The collar is meant to teach you when to use Kor's true power, after all," Susan continued to explain, which got a nod from Will, but Kor was clearly still against the idea.

"Kor!" Both Vandom women stated firmly, in hopes it would make the rodent/dragon comply, but Kor would not back down. It took Susan reminding Kor who was his mother's partner, which made the young dormouse/dragon shudder and allow the collar to be placed on him.

Will then boarded the wagon and allowed the group to set out on the Arcane Order, not knowing it was going to be more…eventful than many would have liked.

As the four young adventures sat in the wagon, Taranee looked over to Will and asked, "How come you did not ask what Kor would change into with that collar on?"

"Well, since mom gave the collar to me, I'm assuming she chose his preset form so that means…" Will started to say, when everyone figured out why Will did not bother to ask what Kor's new form would be.

'Over protective mother chose the form, so it's probably still dangers enough to cause severe damage to anything that might try to hurt Will,' Everyone concluded and shuddered at what Kor might become when the collar was used.

"Knowing my luck, it's one of the species of Trolls. If there is anything I dislike more than Roy, it's Trolls!" Zerase grumbled under her breath, making the four teens in the back chuckle at her expense.

000

It was only a few hours into the trip, yet there was already an uncomfortable silence in the wagon. Even Zerase, who was the type to enjoy some peace and quiet, was finding it unbearable; most likely since she was both used to dealing with the ever talkative Roy and the fact the tension was so thick it could be cut with a knife.

'Taranee is lucky points are not deducted from her 'score' because this kind of thing tends to interfere with missions,' The aging Wizard mentally commented, for once in her life wishing Roy was around. Dealing with situations like these was part of the reason Roy was a part of the adventuring group they shared under normal circumstances.

Zerase tried to think of a way to break the silence before someone cracked, but Will beat her to it.

"Alchemy…I have been meaning to ask, why does your grandfather…dislike my kind so much?" Will asked, not sure if now was the best time to ask about such things, but she was desperate to end the silence with anything and that question was all Will could think of.

Everyone was a bit surprised by this question, but Alchemy jumped at the chance to do something other just sit quietly and suffocate in the tension that the group was trapped in and told Will what she knew of how her grandfather gained his hatred of the Half-Elf race.

"From what I was told, my grandfather originally gained his dislikes for you and your kind, Will, just because of the conflicts him and the old businesses of Trader's Central had with the Elves. He used to make a fortune in the trade of certain rare creatures and plants that were found most often in Elvin lands," Alchemy started to explain, which was not new news to those present in the wagon.

It was common knowledge that at one time, Trader's Central's biggest items of trader was exotic items that had been 'acquired' from the Elves' forest kingdom. The eggs of large flying mounts, plants that had magical properties and so forth; all had high value on the open market and McDohl made sure to have his own hands in the trade of these items as well as the taxes he got from the businesses independent of him.

It was because of this 'trade', Sade, with Susan's help, made the treaty with the Elves to put heavy sanctions and penalties on those who people who took things from the forest without Elvin consent.

If the treaty had not been made, the small scale battles between troops in Trader's Central and the Elvin people would have ignited a full scale war, but those like Irvine McDohl only viewed this treaty as betrayal of their own Queen and targeted the Half-Elf as a form of revenge on both Sade and the Elvin race.

"But what few people know, is that my grandfather has more personal reasons for his hatred of Will's kind," Alchemy continued, making everyone pay even more attention to Alchemy's story.

Zerase actually knew the tale the young McDohl was about to tell, but she wanted to see if any of it might be tainted by the head of the McDohl family or if it was the unbiased version. The ageing Wizard had no doubts about Alchemy's loyalty to Will, but the young Swordsage might have only heard her grandfather's point of view, since not many knew of the full story and those that did, did not speak of it either out of respect of Irvine McDohl's loss or because they were the ones that did not wish to risk the Half-Elves to gain equal sympathy from the masses.

"You see, my grandfather used to have two sons, one being my father and the other being my Uncle Aiden. My Uncle Aiden was a skilled fighter and wizard, who later merged the two arts by taking up the Abjuration Champion prestige class to enhance his defensive spells, while still keeping up his skill with a sword," Alchemy continued, while her audiences (or at least three of them anyway) were on the edge of their seats to hear what happened to Alchemy's uncle and how it was tied to Irvine McDohl's hatred of Will and her kind.

"At the time, the treaty with the Elves was not even though of yet and also at that time, the half elf race was viewed with more suspicion or disgust, rather than hate. My uncle deemed them a security risk, since they might give the Elves information on human lands, thus chose to do everything in his power to keep them away from the Elvin Forest at all costs. This would lead him to…die at the hands of Half-Elves."

Hearing this story made it seem rather clear while Alchemy's grandfather hated half-elves, but the young girl's tale was not done yet, and continued by going onto the details of what actual happened that caused the man's death.

"My uncle was in charge of the Great Wall's troops, so he often encountered the Half-Elves trying to pass through. This is also what would lead to his death; since he used anything he could think of to justify not allowing the Half-Elves from passing through; things like large tolls or finding reason to have them detained for causing 'trouble'. This made the Half-Elves seek revenge and planned an attack on him."

"Roughly a group of twenty Half-Elves waited until he headed home for the evening and ambushed him. Even my uncle, with all his skill and magical power, would be overwhelmed by so many opponents catching him off guard."

"The only reason my family knew Half-Elves were even behind the attack, was the fact that the battle, despite being a short one, still caused enough noise to bring several town guards to come investigate the commotion and found the surviving attackers fleeing the scene. This obviously caused my grandfather to lash out in grief and begin a witch hunt for those of Will's kind, which was only 'officially ended' when Queen Sade and the Elves signed the treaty," Alchemy told the group, who could now see why the head of the McDohl family waged his 'war' on Will's kind, not that it was justified, but obviously McDohl did not care about what 'Half-Elf lovers' thought of his beliefs.

After a moment of silence to recover from the story Alchemy had just told them, Nigel spoke up.

"I can't agree with the way the Half-Elves chose to deal with your uncle methods, but at the same time it not right that your grandfather uses it to justify an attack on a whole race!" Nigel stated thought there still obviously feeling some degree of sympathy towards the old lord, seeing how he did suffer a great loss.

"You would be surprised by how many people back McDohl's cause because of those things happening; it's what helped fan the flames that would cause the current hatred of Will and her kind. The treaty that was made years later just got the greedy also backing the likes of McDohl in their crusade against all elf kind," Zerase commented, drawing attention to her now rather than to Alchemy.

"So Will had to suffer for years because both the greedy and the vengeful deem her a good source of stress relief?" Taranee demanded, but the older wizard ignored the outburst of anger gave the dark skinned girl a casual come back.

"Just like how you take your anger of Irvine McDohl out on Alchemy?" Was Zerase's reply, which caught Taranee off guard and stumbling over her own words in an attempt to come back from this simple statement.

Even Nigel was unsure of what to say, it was a bit of slap in the face after all. Both he and Taranee were so set against the young girl before them, they had never realized they were as bad as the ones they despised.

Silence once again over took the wagon, but at least it was nowhere near as tense as it was before. Will was taking in this new information about one of her great obstacles in being accepted, while Taranee and Nigel were revaluating their view on Alchemy, thanks to Zerase's eye opening comment.

After a few minutes, Alchemy thought something that would take their minds off what had happened, by taking out a deck of card and asking "Go Adventure anyone?"

000

"Got any rouges?" Will asked Nigel, who simply replied 'Go Adventure' and the redhead pulled a card from the deck.

This had been going on for the last two hours and Zerase was being reminded why she despised the game. If she heard those two words one more time, she would burn the deck of cards and the Swordsage who brought them with her!

'What I would not give for an attack to happen right now. A dragon, some bandits, even a bloody Tarrasque would be better to deal with right now! Anything else is better than hearing 'Go Adventure' over and over again!' Zerase mentally ranted, while the four teens played their game.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on your point of view, Zerase wish was answered by fifteen heavily armed thugs coming out from some bushes by the road.

The thugs were mostly humans, but there were also three Half-Orcs in the group as well, which surprised the aging wizard when she saw them. Half-Orcs rarely lived past birth, given the history of their pure blooded relatives and the fact that the way a human woman would gain such children was through rather...unpleasant means.

'Well, this should prove an interesting fight for the kids, though I better take out the Half-Orcs myself as a precaution,' Zerase commented in her mind, but then noticed Will and the other were hopping out of the wagon and readying their weapons.

"Here I was hoping the trip was going to be a quiet one. I blame you, Will. You attract trouble like flies to honey," Nigel joked, which got him a glare from the redheaded Half-Elf.

"Why does everyone blame the Half-Elf when bad luck strikes?" Will shot back, making Taranee and Alchemy roll their eyes, before focusing on the more pressing matter of the group of thugs before them.

"If you kids are smart, you'll drop your weapons and any other valuables you have, and then get back in the wagon or you might get hurt," one of the human bandits ordered the four teens, but to both Zerase's and the bandit's surprise, the four teens did not show a signal sign of backing down.

'Interesting, would have expected this from Nigel because of his tribe's conditioning, but the girls I would thought would be more nervous right now,' Zerase pondered in her mind, trying to think of what could help Will, Taranee or Alchemy handle a possible life and death battle at so young an age.

Zerase of course did not know of the ruin(rune?) adventure that Will and Taranee had several months back with the other girls and Will also had the incident with Kor and herself fighting the Lizardfolk which made Will learn how to fight to the death.

Alchemy, on the other hand, had less dramatic preparations for such events. Her mother simply took her on several small trips like this one and they ran into things like bandits from time to time.

While Alchemy's mother took care of the bulk of such groups, it still allowed the younger Swordsage to learn that killing was sometimes necessary and how to not freeze up in battle.

"Nigel, you want to take the big mouth or should I do it?" Will asked the barbarian casually, but before Nigel could reply, the first bandit roared in anger and charged the Half-Elf.

To counter, Will block the first thug's sword with her own but could not do anything after that.

Her opponent had struck with such force, the redhead was unable to strike back because was knocked off balance, but that did not stop Nigel from doing it for Will.

The teenage Barbarian swung one end of his double-axe and hacked off the man's hand with the brutal blow.

As the first thug screamed in pain, the other fourteen men charged forward, thinking they could easily rush the small group of teenagers and a single middle aged woman.

What the group of highway bandits did not expect was Taranee forming a fireball in her hands and aiming it land just behind the group.

Since a fireball spell had a wide blast radius, the explosion got five of the attackers, while the remaining bandits where thrown into a mixed state of fear and confusion at such a show of power from a single thirteen year old girl.

Taking advantage of their attackers' confusion, Alchemy and Nigel charged forward.

Alchemy leapt into the air with both feet aimed at the nearest bandit's chest, hit with such force the man fell over and was unable to defend himself as Alchemy brought one her two short swords down towards his throat.

Her second weapon was used to take out another man that was right behind her first target, the bandit did not have time to block the thrust that sunk the sword's blade into his stomach.

As Alchemy's second opponent fell to his knees and clutched his gut in an attempt to stop the blood from coming out, Nigel was also busy taking out the enemy.

The young Barbarian had entered his raging state and was swinging his Orc-Double Axe wildly at the enemy. The deadly flurry of axe strikes took out two more of the thugs, bringing the number down to five who could still fight.

Unfortunately three of those remaining opponent were the three Half-Orcs, all three of which were heading straight for Will and Taranee, while the two humans that were left attacked Nigel and Alchemy.

Zerase was getting ready to step in, since she was unsure if Will or Taranee had the power to beat three charging warriors who had strength matching that of regular Orcs, but stopped when she saw Kor leap in front of Will and hissed at his partner's enemies.

At first the Half-Orcs barely noticed the disguised dragon, but that changed as the collar around Kor's neck glowed and he slowly began to change shape.

Kor's dormouse form got larger and his front legs became claw like hands, while his hind legs became thicker so to support a bipedal form. Kor's head/face took on a more menacing form, taking one glowing red eyes and sharper fangs; completing the were-like form the collar had given him to replace his true form.

The only odd thing one might note of this form was the dark blue tunic that Kor now wore, since most transformations rarely provide clothing. Why Susan Vandom would add such a feature, no one knew, but at the moment Will and Taranee were just glad for the extra help.

The first thing the dragon/weremouse did, was grab one of the Half-Orcs by the throat and choked slammed his victim into the ground.

The second and third Half-Orcs raised their weapons to attack the familiar, but Taranee took out one with a lightning bolt spell and Will thrust her sword at the last one's chest, scoring a direct hit on the heart of her enemy.

Nigel and Alchemy finishing their final opponents as well, which left only two the original group still alive, the first being the human who had his hand cut off by Nigel and the second being the Half-Orc that Kor had choke slammed.

Zerase had to say she was impressed by how quickly the fight was ended. The fact not one of the four teenagers even got a scratch on them on them was equally impressive.

'They have been trained well, especially Will. Months ago, she would have just been a target for people like this and now she can defend herself so effectively,' Zerase mused to herself, as she got down from her seat at the front of the wagon.

"Good work kids, I thought you might have been in trouble with those Half-Orcs around, but it seems they were not as big an issue thanks to Kor and the fact you are even stronger than I expected," The aging Wizard told the four teens, who were now looking a little tired now that the adrenaline rush from the battle was wearing off.

"So…what do we…do with…the last two…" Nigel asked the veteran wizard, as he tried to catch his breath from using his rage.

It was times like these that the young warrior envied the Barbarians of legend, who were said to not become tired and weak after using their rage in battle. Sadly this feat was only achieved by the most powerful and devoted followers of the Barbarian class, most of such people died in battle because of the very power they sought to master, since either they got careless in battle or the rage wore off in the middle of the fight and got killed without the extra strength at that key moment.

Zerase was silent for a moment, as she thought over Nigel's question. She knew that one crippled human and a mildly injured Half-Orc were of little threat to most people; she technically could just let them go.

At the same time, Zerase knew they could not take the two bandits with them. There was too much risk of them getting free at the wrong moment and becoming a threat to group again.

"We will stop the bleeding of the fool here and then tie them both up for the highway patrol to find. Even if they do get free before being found, they won't be much of a threat on their own," Zerase ordered the teenagers, who obeyed and bandaged the stump of the human bandit's arm and then bond them both tightly with the rope they had in the wagon.

Once their two still living attackers were left for the patrols to find, the group continued their journey to Ironforge, thinking the trip would be smooth sailing from now on. They would soon find out they were wrong.

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AN: There you go guys, now just got to figure out how to start the really good stuff that is to come next chapter. Been waiting a good while to write the next part of this arc, because we start to really see some fights and bring in some very familiar faces in new role (some might be expected, while other might catch you by surprise)


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